Morning Note: A Round-up of Global Financial Market News.
Market News
Market optimism over the US-Iran ceasefire faded after Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said three clauses of the proposal have been contravened so far. Saudi Arabia’s key east-west pipeline carrying oil to the Red Sea was attacked yesterday, as energy sites on both sides of the Middle East conflict continue to be targeted.
JD Vance will lead US-Iran talks in Islamabad this weekend even as fighting continues in the Middle East. The US asked European allies to provide quick plans to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, which remains largely closed. Two Chinese oil tankers are approaching the waterway and may become the first non-Iranian vessels to cross under the ceasefire.
Brent Crude climbed back up to $98 a barrel, rebounding from its worst plunge in more than six years, while gold is trading around $4,720 an ounce.
Fed officials wrestled with differing scenarios for the US economy after the outbreak of the war, including one that called for rate cuts and another for hikes, the FOMC’s latest minutes showed. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury moved back up to 4.30%.
US equities rose last night – S&P 500 (2.5%); Nasdaq (2.8%) – although they are currently drifting lower in the futures market this morning. Meta Platforms unveiled a new artificial intelligence model and Anthropic launched Claude tools for building agents.
In Asia, equities fell: Nikkei 225 (-0.7%); Hang Seng (-0.5%); Shanghai Composite (-0.7%). Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said that Japan’s finance conditions remain accommodative, with the level of real rates clearly below zero.
The FTSE 100 is currently little changed at 10,609. Companies trading ex-dividend today include Centrica (1.68%), Croda (2.18%), InterContinental Hotels Group (0.96%), Lloyds Banking Group (2.54%), Reckitt Benckiser (2.48%), and Standard Life (3.96%).
UK housing market momentum weakened in March according to the latest RICS survey. Price expectations, sales expectations, and new buyer enquiries all slumped as mortgage rates climbed above 5%.
Labour slipped to fourth place in UK national polling ahead of May’s local and regional elections, trailing the Greens, Conservatives, and Reform. Sterling trades at $1.3386 and €1.1480, while the 10-year Gilt yield edged back up to 4.71%.
Source: Bloomberg
