A vessel at the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, April 12, 2026. REUTERS
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Tom Westbrook
Oil futures jumped back over $100 at the open in Asia on Monday, the dollar fell and stocks were down as U.S.-Iran talks collapsed without making progress toward any durable peace.
The U.S. also announced a blockade of Iranian ports, a measure aimed at ratcheting up pressure on Tehran, as well as on the recipients – mainly China – of Iranian crude.
The blockade, experts say, is an act of war that requires an open-ended commitment of a significant number of warships. The cut to global supply, if Iranian exports are removed, would be up to 2 million barrels per day.
Soft commodities also rose sharply on heightened concern about disruption to fuel and fertiliser supplies, and bonds were sold on worries about the risks to inflation.
Hungary’s forint shot higher after the defeat of Viktor Orban at Sunday’s election paved the way for European Union funding to flow to Hungary and perhaps Ukraine.
Other reactions in the Asia session to the breakdown of U.S.-Iran talks, however, were not extreme and sent most asset prices back to where they sat around the middle of last week, before the U.S., Israel and Iran agreed a ceasefire.
That will leave markets trading the headlines while U.S. earnings season begins in earnest with Goldman Sachs reporting before the market opens.
Key developments that could influence markets on Monday:
– Hungarian election result
– U.S. earnings: Goldman Sachs
Editing by Sonali Paul
