May 6 : Stocks surged and oil prices dropped on Wednesday after a report that the United States and Iran are closing in on an agreement to end the war in the Gulf, while momentum in AI-driven trades accelerated. Brent crude, the global benchmark, plunged to just below $100 per barrel, its lowest in two weeks, given the importance of oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent was last trading at $101.56, down 7.5 per cent on the day. On Wall Street, a humming U.S. corporate profit engine