US president pauses ‘Project Freedom’ to work on ‘final agreement’ with Tehran; stocks also ride high on AI euphoriaGood morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.Asian stock markets hit record highs, following in Wall Street’s footsteps, and oil prices retreated after
Julia Kollewe
We are off to a good start in Europe too. The FTSE 100 index in London has jumped 1.5%, or 153 points, to 10,372 in early trading.
Diageo shares rose 4.6% (they were up 5.5% at the open) after the world’s top spirits maker, which also makes Guinness, posted surprise growth in quarterly organic sales, with strong performances in Europe annd Latin America offsetting weakness in the US, its biggest market.
The company stuck to its 2026 forecast and said it was mindful of the Middle East war’s impact on energy, suppy and distrbution.
Mining (Anglo American, Antofogasta and Fresnillo) and banking stocks (Standard Chartered and NatWest Group) are also among the top risers in London.
The Italian borsa rose 1.3% while the French and Spanish markets climbed about 1%.
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
Asian stock markets hit record highs, following in Wall Street’s footsteps, and oil prices retreated after Donald Trump hailed “great progress” towards a “final agreement” with Tehran.
Brent crude oil futures fell nearly 2% to $107.7 a barrel. The dollar lost 0.36% against a basket of major currencies.
The US president said last night he was pausing ‘Project Freedom’, the US effort to guide stranded vessels out of the strait of Hormuz launched on Monday, but added that his blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place. In a social media post, Trump said he made the move based
on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran”.
Iran is yet to comment.
MSCI’s All-Country World Index rose 0.56% to a new record while the broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan leapt 2.8% at one stage, but then dipped 0.1%.
South Korea’s Kospi jumped nearly 8% through the 7,000 mark for the first time as the Seoul market reopened after a holiday. Samsung Electronics surged 15% which took its market value above $1 trillion, ahead of Warren Buffett’s investment firm Berkshire Hathaway and closing in on the retailer Walmart. Japan’s Nikkei rose almost 0.4%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.8% and China’s CSI 300 and the Australian market were 1.3% ahead.
Stocks on Wall Street hit fresh all-time highs on Tuesday with the S&P 500 index up 0.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gaining 1% amid a wave of AI-driven trades.
Chris Weston, head of research at the broker Pepperstone in Melbourne, told Reuters:
Investors bought and continue to add to positioning in the 2026 winners. There has been some buying in S&P 500 materials stocks, but it’s tech that continues to attract the bulk of flows, notably in Apple and the memory plays.
The Agenda
9am BST: Eurozone services and composite PMIs for April
9.30am BST: UK services and composite PMIs for April
1.15pm BST: US ADP employment change for April
