Oil prices fell Wednesday after President Donald Trump said U.S. talks with Iran in Qatar are going well.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, traded 2.3% lower to $71.26 per barrel by 1:15 p.m. ET. The contract dropped roughly 21% last month, notching its largest monthly decline since March 2020.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures fell 1.7% to $68.29. The contract dropped more than 20% in June, reflecting its worst monthly performance since late 2021.

“As far as things are going, the denuclearization of Iran is moving along well” Trump told reporters. “They’ve had very good meetings and we’ll see.”

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday for indirect talks with Iran. The U.S. envoys are speaking with mediators and not directly with the Iranians, a Qatari government spokesperson said.

The talks in Qatar come after renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend jeopardized a 60-day truce between the two countries. Tehran fired on two commercial ships and the U.S. struck targets in Iran in retaliation.

The U.S. and Iran struck a 14-point memorandum of understanding on June 17 to pause fighting that had disrupted global oil flows through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

Located in the Persian Gulf between Oman and Iran, the Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical energy choke points. The narrow waterway typically handles around 20% of the world’s oil traffic.

Iranian state media reported Wednesday that a ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz while using a route that was not approved by Tehran. The Islamic Republic identified the vessel as a foreign container ship, without providing further details.

The oil market continues to take an optimistic view on a supply recovery in the Middle East despite recent flare-ups between the U.S. and Iran, said ING strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey.

They said in a research note published Wednesday that tanker vessel movements in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz still appear limited.

“Admittedly, there has been a slight pickup in inbound tanker traffic, suggesting that shipowners are becoming increasingly confident about moving vessels into the Persian Gulf,” Patterson and Manthey said.

“If this trend accelerates, it becomes a clear headwind—and potentially a direct challenge—to our view that oil prices should rise from…

Hello, this is Katie Foley writing to you from London. This morning in the newsroom, we’ve been watching the final few hours of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to China — which included a bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping over tea and a working lunch at Zhongnanhai garden, adjacent to the Forbidden City. 

Diplomatically and symbolically, the trip looks like a success. On the substance of the issues, though, it’s too early to tell. And upon the president’s return to the White House tonight, one key issue persists — namely, Iran. 

Trump said Chinese leader Xi Jinping is “all business, no games,” in a pre-recorded interview with Fox News that aired Thursday evening stateside. Trump also said China has agreed to buy American oil, to help with Iran negotiations and not to supply military equipment to Tehran, adding that the Chinese leader would like to see the Strait of Hormuz open and free of tolls. On the corporate front, Trump said China has agreed to buy 200 Boeing jets.

Here in London, we’ll be closely watching the gilt and stock market open after some key developments in U.K. politics. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is one step closer to challenging Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the leadership, after former minister Josh Simons announced he would stand down as an MP to make way for a by-election that could return Burnham to Parliament.

Another key contender, Wes Streeting, bit the bullet and resigned as Health Secretary on Thursday, after days of briefings and speculation. He hit out at Starmer in his resignation letter, saying the Labour Party needs “vision” but instead has “vacuum,” and where it needs “direction,” it has “drift.” Sterling fell to a one-month low.

We’ve seen big shifts in Asian stocks this morning. In a matter of hours, the South Korean Kospi swung from a fresh record high, above the 8,000 milestone, to a 6% loss. The rest of the region is solidly in the red, with European and U.S. futures also echoing those losses.

On Wall Street, Cerebras Systems soared 68% in its Nasdaq debut, closing at $311.07 after selling shares at $185, well above the company’s expected range. That values the chipmaker at about $95 billion, narrowly missing joining Facebook-parent Meta and Alibaba as one of the few companies to have ended its first day trading on Wall Street with a market cap of over $100 billion. The listing minted two new members of the tech billionaires club, with Andrew Feldman, the company’s CEO, and technology chief Sean Lie, owning stakes worth $3.2 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.

In other headlines, SpaceX’s IPO prospectus could drop as soon as next week in what’s expected to be a record share sale, sources told CNBC.

—…

U.S. tech companies are ramping up lobbying of government officials at home and further afield amid the Iran war, as they look to defend their interests and map out contingency plans, industry insiders told CNBC.

Conflict in the Middle East has thrown the global business sector into disarray, with oil prices skyrocketing and supply chains heavily disrupted. In the tech industry, assets in the region have become military targets and analysts have predicted shortages in key materials needed for the AI infrastructure buildout.

“U.S. tech firms are actively engaging both U.S. diplomats in the Middle East and regional counterparts,” as well as officials in the White House and Pentagon, Sean Evins, partner at strategic communications consultancy Kekst CNC, told CNBC.

He pointed to clients in Big Tech, as well as the data center and semiconductor sectors, as increasing lobbying efforts, but declined to share specific names as the information is confidential.

Those clients’ risk exposure is now physical as well as commercial, he added. “Critical undersea cables, public sector cloud, data centers and enterprise systems are embedded in Gulf economies physically and financially. Any instability quickly starts to threaten contracts and, ultimately, revenue.”

A White House spokesperson told CNBC that President Donald Trump had “always been clear about temporary disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury.”

They added that the administration has “been working hand in glove with industry leaders not just to mitigate these disruptions, but to continue laying the groundwork for America’s long-term economic resurgence.”

Apps and digital services in the United Arab Emirates reported outages following drone strikes on Amazon Web Services’ data centers in the country in March. At the start of April, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened attacks on a swath of U.S. tech companies with operations in the Middle East, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Google.

Second-order effects are also being felt. Exports of helium, a key material in chipmaking and other manufacturing processes, have already been significantly curtailed by the fighting. Experts have also warned that a prolonged conflict would throw uncertainty over future data center and AI infrastructure projects in the region.

Mehdi Paryavi, CEO of U.S.-based think tank the International Data Center Authority (IDCA), told CNBC that he’s aware of tech companies engaging U.S. officials to lobby for an end to the conflict.

“Tech companies are extremely concerned about this conflict as peace is a key requirement for building data centers, cloud services and AI factories,” he said.

“At a base level, what these companies want is for the war to stop becoming a risk to infrastructure, markets and systems,” Evins said.

“They also want their people safe,” he added. “They are…

Shares in Europe nudged higher on Friday morning as the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran continues to test investors’ nerves. 

Shortly after the opening bell, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index was seen trading up 0.2%, with most sectors in positive territory. The U.K’s FTSE 100, France’s Cac 40 and Germany’s Dax all edged slightly higher after closing in the red on Thursday.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country had agreed to negotiate with Lebanon “as soon as possible.” Tehran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf cited Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon as a violation of the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran.

Asian markets rose overnight following the news, with South Korea’s Kospi advancing 1.75%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 1.65% higher.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.88%, while the Topix was flat. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Friday that the country plans to release 20 days’ worth of oil reserves from May onwards, Reuters reported. Japan had enough oil reserves for 230 days as of April 6.

European markets struggled for direction on Thursday, finishing lower as the fragile truce agreed between the U.S. and Iran already showed signs of strain.

Meanwhile, investors will also be keeping an eye on Germany’s monthly inflation data released later on Friday, which will give some indication of how the war in Iran is affecting consumer prices.

— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Justina Lee also contributed to this report.

European government bonds reversed course on Thursday, moving higher after plunging during the previous session, as a fragile Middle East ceasefire keeps markets on edge.

Bond traders are grappling with unusually high levels of volatility, which is clouding the outlook for interest rate policies at the Bank of England and European Central Bank.

Yields on 10-year Gilts — the benchmark for U.K. government debt — rose more than 6 basis points to 4.775% on Thursday, after tumbling 21 basis points a day earlier. The 2-year Gilt yield climbed 7 basis points to 4.245%, having dropped 25 basis points in the previous session.

German bunds followed a similar pattern. The 10-year Bund yield rose almost 5 basis points to 2.9886%, after falling nearly 17 basis points on Wednesday. Meanwhile, 2-year Bund yields — which shed 28 basis points in the prior session — rebounded 6 basis points to 2.5549%.

Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions, and one basis point equals 0.01%.

Markets have whipsawed since hostilities between the U.S. and its allies and Iran began on Feb. 28. Borrowing costs across multiple European economies have touched multi-decade highs in recent weeks, with elevated oil prices driving inflationary fears and complicating how investors assess the future path of interest rates.

Laura Cooper, global investment strategist and head of macro credit at Nuveen, said volatility has become “the new norm,” as traders look to distinguish signal from noise. “Investors cannot tune out every headline but also can’t trade every one either,” Cooper said.

She added that the resumption of oil and gas shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz will be crucial in limiting lasting economic damage, describing ongoing disruptions as “not an aberration” but an “expression” of a shifting geopolitical order.

“The developments do little to contain near-term price pressures with a risk premium still warranted in crude oil and evidence of supply chain disruptions building, the latter of which will take time to resolve,” she told CNBC via email.

“Inflation risks could limit the rally of long-end bonds until there is evidence of growth destruction, and we hold greater conviction in steeper curves…. Positioning has skewed shorter in duration, with curve steepeners and inflation protection increasingly preferred over outright rate bets.”

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said rate hikes remain likely — albeit potentially fewer than expected before Tuesday night’s ceasefire announcement.

“Any sign of oil prices going back up could lead to another sell-off on the bond market,” Coatsworth told CNBC via email. “We’re in a tricky situation as markets now appear to be showing widespread optimism for the Iran crisis to be nearing conclusion, yet it’s far too early to take that view.”

Global oil prices jumped again Thursday, but remain off their…

Danone’s CEO told CNBC that inflationary pressures from the Iran war may force the company to consider price hikes as the outlook for conflict in the Middle East remains highly uncertain.

When asked if the company would be raising prices, CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique said, “we are not there yet.”

“Nobody knows when [the war] is going to stop, and depending how the next two to four weeks are going to evolve, the outcome from a macroeconomic standpoint, is going to be very, very different,” he told CNBC’s Charlotte Reed.

“If it lasts for long enough, it will have an impact,” he added.

His comments come as companies increasingly take stock of how the war may impact their operations and cost base. 

The conflict in the Middle East has now entered its sixth week, with U.S. President Donald Trump turning up the tone on Iran over the weekend to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. 

The president on Monday said Iran has until 8 p.m. Eastern time to reopen the strategically important strait where normally a fifth of global oil supply passes through.  

The effective closure of the narrow passage has caused not only surging energy prices but also soaring fertilizer and shipping costs. 

“Higher costs will filter through at some point as price increases for commodities, agri-inputs, energy, packaging and transportation are passed on through supply chains,” ING economist Thijs Geijer told CNBC via email.

“Most economists and companies were anticipating a slowdown in food inflation. It’s clear that that won’t happen this year,” he added.

The Head of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva warned Monday that even if the conflict resolves soon, the Iran war will inevitably lead to higher inflation and weaker growth.

Earlier this month, Britain’s Food and Drink Federation (FDF) forecasted food inflation of at least 9% by the end of the year, revised upwards from an estimated 3.2% previously. That would be the highest annual food and non-alcoholic drink inflation since 2023. 

“Given the fast-changing nature of the situation, this revision is based on assumptions that the Strait of Hormuz opens to cargo traffic within the next two-three weeks and the majority of key facilities, such as oil, gas and fertiliser sites, return to normal within a year,” the FDF said on April 1. 

Danone reported a roughly 2.1% overall price increase in the fourth quarter,…

Shares listed in Europe struggled for direction on Tuesday, as uncertainty around a resolution to the Iran war weighed on sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.1% shortly after 10:40 a.m. London time (6:40 a.m. E.T), with sectors and major regional bourses showing mixed performance. Oil and gas stocks, utilities, and chemicals led gains, while miners, industrials and banks lagged the broader index.

In corporate news, Bellway shares dropped 10% in morning trade after the UK homebuilder warned of “volatility” in the mortgage market caused by inflationary cost pressure.

“Investors will be less pleased to see an erosion of profit margins, with the company’s operating margin reducing by 50 basis points,” said Oli Creasey, head of property research at Quilter Cheviot.

Beauty conglomerate Estée Lauder said on Monday night that it was in talks with Spain’s Puig — owner of Jean Paul Gaultier, Charlotte Tilbury and Rabanne — about a potential merger. Shares of Puig were last seen trading 14.5% higher.

Regional shares ended Monday’s session in broadly positive territory after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington had held productive talks over a “complete and total resolution” to the Iran conflict. The president told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in a subsequent phone call that he was “very intent on making a deal with Iran.”

However, Tehran later denied any talks with the U.S. had taken place.

On Tuesday morning, oil prices — which fell sharply after Trump’s comments on Monday — rebounded, with global benchmark Brent crude futures rising around 1.4% to hover above $100.

Asian stocks tracked a rally on Wall Street overnight, but pared gains throughout the trading session. In the U.S., futures data point to a positive open on Tuesday as the Iran war remained in focus.

Outside of equities, gold extended losses on Tuesday to sink further into bear market territory. Spot gold was last seen trading 0.4% lower at $4,386.69 an ounce.

Economic data out of Europe on Tuesday includes a manufacturing PMI print from Germany, an S&P Global flash manufacturing PMI for the U.K., and new car registrations in the EU.

When the gavel came down in December, Christie’s had set a record that created a buzz in the auction world.

A Tiffany & Co. necklace adorned with a sparkling blue Paraiba tourmaline gem and diamonds sold for more than $4.2 million, 10 times its low estimate. A matching pair of earrings hit the block next, and it too sold for 10 times its estimate.

“I think that was really a marker for how far private clients are willing to go for these exceptional goods,” said Jacqueline DiSante, vice president and head of sales of Christie’s New York jewelry division.

Amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty, a certain class of consumers are turning toward an unlikely asset class — jewelry. The trend comes as investors increasingly flock to tangible assets. For ultrarich consumers, colored gemstones such as rubies, sapphires and emeralds are especially popular right now.

“Whenever you have macroeconomic volatility … the appeal of hard asset investing goes up,” said Thorne Perkin, president of investment management firm Papamarkou Wellner Perkin. “Tangible assets, they tend to retain their value or even increase when inflation rises.”

Mario Ortelli, a managing partner at strategic and M&A advisor Ortelli&Co., agreed with Perkin’s take, saying that there was clearly a “defensive element” to the trend.

“In periods of inflation, geopolitical tension, or financial market volatility, tangible assets become more attractive,” he said in an email. “Branded jewelry can function as a portable store of value.”

“Unlike fashion accessories that are tied to seasonal cycles, iconic jewelry collections have a much longer product life cycle,” he added. “In many cases, they also demonstrate stronger resale value dynamics than handbags. That longevity and perceived capital preservation help explain jewelry’s relative resilience versus soft luxury.”

Luca Solca, global head of luxury goods at Bernstein, estimated that roughly one-third of the renewed interest in gold-heavy and gemstone-driven jewelry could be tied to “flight to safety” behavior for investors.

Strong resale value

Surging gold prices have played a role. Long considered a safe-haven asset, gold in January soared to its highest price ever, above $5,100 an ounce. Although prices have pulled back since, it still trades at a lofty level, above $4,500 an ounce.

“I think the view of jewelry — gold jewelry, diamond and gemstone jewelry — being viewed as an investment is enhanced by, obviously, the almost daily increase in the gold price,” said Andrew Brown, founder and CEO of luxury resale platform MyGemma.

DiSante, of Christie’s, said record high gold prices have incentivized some collectors to come out of the woodwork and sell certain pieces.

Jewelry’s durability…

Oil prices jumped over 2% on Tuesday as uncertainty lingered over a U.S.-led coalition to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

International benchmark Brent crude gained 2.45% to $102.57 per barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 2.51% to $95.85 per barrel as of 8:44 p.m. ET.

“Mixed messages are coming from the Trump administration on the war’s duration, as the market focusses more on the actions on the ground that remain escalatory,” said Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Marquee.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that the U.S. was allowing Iranian oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. would soon announce a coalition of countries to escort ships through the Strait, citing officials.

However, President Donald Trump suggested Monday that the coalition was not fully in place as he urged other countries to get involved.

Trump added that he was frustrated some nations were reluctant to participate.

“Some are very enthusiastic, and some are less than enthusiastic,” Trump told reporters at a press conference. “And I assume some will not do it. I think we have one or two that will not do it that we’ve been protecting for about 40 years at tens of billions of dollars.”

The U.S. has been urging allies to send military forces to protect tanker traffic through the strait. Ship movements through the vital shipping route have plunged after Iranian attacks, fueling one of the largest disruptions to global oil supply in history. 

“The sheer scale of the oil supply disruption makes it difficult for the market to find an adequate solution,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING. 

“While the U.S. administration has touted the idea of insurance guarantees and naval escorts, neither has materialized yet,” Patterson noted.

He added that escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz would leave naval ships vulnerable to attack, so the U.S. may hold off from such action until it feels that Iran’s ability to launch attacks on vessels has been eroded.

Located between Oman and Iran, the strait functions as a vital artery for the global oil trade. Roughly 13 million barrels per day passed through it in 2025, representing about 31% of all seaborne crude flows, according to energy consulting firm Kpler.