Headlines:
- Iran seizes, attacks two cargo ships trying to cross Strait of Hormuz
- Trump tweets on Iran financial “collapse”, want to reopen Strait of Hormuz
- Oil prices jump on Iran’s refusal for talks, but consolidate on ceasefire extension
- Gold bounces back from overnight lows as the cautious optimism holds
- ECB’s Simkus: The ECB shouldn’t raise interest rates in April
- ECB policymaker Lane “admits” the euro can’t replace US dollar’s role as global safe haven
- ECB policymaker Kazāks says not in a rush to make a move on monetary policy
- UK March CPI +3.3% vs +3.3% y/y expected
Markets:
- WTI crude up 0.5% to $90.03
- US dollar little changed across the board on nervous markets
- Equities hold on to optimism with S&P 500 futures up 0.6%
- European indices more shaky, down slightly around 0.1% to 0.4%
- Gold up 0.8% to $4,750, Silver up 1.6% to $78.00
Once again, it is another one of those days where trading conditions in Europe are gripped by the US-Iran conflict. This time, it was more of a case of nervous anticipation and some cautious optimism awaiting talks between the two sides.
There’s still no word about US vice president Vance’s travel plans as Iran continues to maintain that they won’t negotiate so long as the US naval blockade remains. In the meantime, Iran’s military proceeded to attack and seize a couple of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz despite Trump announcing an extension to the ceasefire yesterday.
Oil prices remain steady with WTI crude up 0.5% to $90.03 while Brent crude is up 0.7% to $99.15 on the day.
Meanwhile, equities are holding on to some optimism with S&P 500 futures keeping up by 0.6%. The mood is helped by a possible rehash in the headlines from Bloomberg during the session, in saying that Iran received ‘some sign’ that the US might break its blockade on the waterway.
European indices are less enthused, keeping little changed and more mixed on the session.
In other markets, the dollar is also keeping a tighter range after a brief drop to the linked headline early in the session. EUR/USD moved up to 1.1760 before falling back to near flat levels now at 1.1737 on the day. USD/JPY is also more tepid as it keeps lower by just 0.1% at 159.20 currently.
As for precious metals, we are seeing some modest gains in gold and silver with the former up 0.8% to $4,750 and the latter up 1.6% to $78.00 on the day.
All eyes are on more US-Iran headlines and when we are going to see the next round of talks take place, which likely should be a question of when and not if. That at least if you go by the kind of messaging from US president Trump all week so far.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.
