US President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House after arriving at Marine One on Sunday, April 12, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA. He attacked Pope Leo XIV, who criticized the US-Israel war against Iran, and called the Catholic Church’s leader “soft on crime.” Photographer: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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U.S. derivatives regulators are investigating several unusual oil futures trades that took place minutes before President Donald Trump’s sudden announcement suggesting a pause in attacks on Iran, according to Bloomberg News.
The investigation is being led by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and is examining activity at trading venues operated by CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Both exchanges have been asked to submit relevant records.
Regulators are focusing on at least two cases in about two weeks when trading volumes surged just ahead of major announcements. The information requested includes so-called Tag 50 identifiers that can be used to determine who was behind a transaction, the people said.
CFTC and ICE declined to comment.
CME did not comment specifically on the unusual trading related to President Trump’s announcement, but said the exchange should include new platforms such as participants like prediction markets in any investigation.
“Nothing is more important than the health of our markets,” a CME spokesperson told CNBC. “We monitor the market vigorously and work closely with the CFTC to oversee trading activity. Importantly, our review of market trends must include all venues, including prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi that list related products with little or no visibility.”
CNBC previously reported on suspicious activity on March 23 when S&P 500 e-mini futures and West Texas Intermediate May crude oil futures saw a sudden, isolated spike in volume in previously quiet premarket trading.
About 15 minutes later, President Trump said on Truth Social that the United States and Iran had held talks and halted plans to attack Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure. The announcement sparked an immediate reaction across markets, with S&P 500 futures surging more than 2.5% ahead of the rally and WTI crude oil futures falling nearly 6%.
The sudden simultaneous spike in stock index and oil futures volume raised eyebrows among traders, especially since there was no clear news or trigger at the time.
Last week, Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Sheldon Whitehouse called on the CFTC to open an investigation into such unusual transactions, raising the question of whether the misappropriation of sensitive government information is happening again.
— Click here to read the original story from Bloomberg News.
