Daily News
U.S. and Iran Agree to Two-Week Ceasefire; Oil Plunges 15% as Hormuz Set to Reopen
08 April 2026
Today in Brief
Trump and Iran struck a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire deal contingent on a full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil below $95 a barrel and sparking a broad market rally after weeks of war-driven volatility.
In tech, Anthropic launched Project Glasswing with CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks to defend against AI-driven cyber threats, while AWS revealed teams working around the clock to restore war-damaged data centers in the Gulf.
South Korea stocks lead gains in Asia as oil prices plunge after U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal
Asia-Pacific markets rallied on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had agreed to suspend planned attacks on Iranian infrastructure for two weeks. The move was "subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz," he wrote on Truth Social. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a post on X on behalf of the country's Supreme National Security Council said Tehran's armed forces will "cease their defensive operations." Trump noted the 2-week ceasefire was subject to Iran agreeing to a complete, immediate and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
S&P 500 ekes out a gain Tuesday, rebounding as traders hope for last-minute Iran deal
The S&P 500 posted a slim gain on Tuesday as traders grew hopeful that a proposal brokered by Pakistan may result in an eleventh-hour deal between the U.S. and Iran. The broad market index inched up 0.08% and closed at 6,616.85, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.10% to settle at 22,017.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 85.42 points, or 0.18%, closing at 46,584.46. The major averages came off their session lows in the final hour of trading as Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked Trump to postpone for two weeks a deadline to attack Iran's power plants and bridges.
Gold jumped more than 2% to above $4,800 per ounce on Wednesday
Gold jumped more than 2% to above $4,800 per ounce on Wednesday, extending recent gains after President Donald Trump delayed his planned strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure by two weeks to finalize talks on a potential resolution to the war. Trump also said the US had received a 10-point proposal from Iran that he described as a "workable basis for negotiations," with the two-week window allowing the potential agreement to be finalized and implemented. Additionally, Iran has agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks provided all attacks are halted, adding that transit would need to be coordinated with Iran's Armed Forces, while Israel has also reportedly assented to the temporary ceasefire.
WTI crude futures plunged more than 15% to below $95 per barrel on Wednesday
WTI crude futures plunged more than 15% to below $95 per barrel on Wednesday after President Donald Trump delayed his threat to attack Iranian civilian infrastructure by two weeks in what he described as a "double-sided ceasefire," contingent on Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Trump also said the US had received a 10-point proposal from Iran that he described as a "workable basis for negotiations," with the two-week window allowing the potential agreement to be finalized and implemented. Additionally, Iran has agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks provided all attacks are halted, adding that transit would need to be coordinated with Iran's Armed Forces, while Israel has also reportedly assented to the temporary ceasefire.
Trump-Iran agree to two-week ceasefire, plan to open Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he agreed to suspend planned attacks on Iranian infrastructure for two weeks, backing off his shocking threats to imminently order the destruction of Iran's "whole civilization." The move, more than five weeks after the U.S. and Israel launched the war, was "subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz," he wrote on Truth Social. The decision was "based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan," Trump wrote. "This will be a double-sided CEASEFIRE!" he declared. Oil prices plunged as much as 16% following the announcement, while U.S. stock futures shot up.
India's central bank holds benchmark policy rates as Iran war raises inflation risks
India's central bank on Wednesday held benchmark interest rates at 5.25% as strong growth allows it room to keep policy tight at a time when the Iran war has raised inflation risk. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the policy rate to remain unchanged. The monetary policy committee thinks the intensity and the duration of the conflict, along with the resulting damage to the energy and other infrastructure, pose a "risk to the [India's] inflation and growth," Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said in his statement. India's consumer inflation rose for a fourth straight month to 3.21% in February, up from 2.75% in the prior month. Malhotra said that the country's food price outlook remained "comfortable in the near term," while adding that the jump in energy prices due to the Middle East conflict risk to inflation.
Trump faces calls for removal over threats to wipe out 'whole civilization' in Iran
The reticence expressed by Democrats about removing President Donald Trump from office — even after he ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and attacked Iran without seeking congressional approval — quickly fell away after his latest threat to Iran. The president's Tuesday morning Truth Social post, which threatened "a whole civilization will die tonight" and raised the specter of nuclear war, began a chorus of calls either for Trump's impeachment or for his removal via the invocation of the 25th Amendment. On Tuesday evening, Trump and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire. "This is a threat of genocide and merits removal from office. The President's mental faculties are collapsing and cannot be trusted," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., posted to X on Tuesday.
World Bank's Banga sees some degree of lower growth, higher inflation due to war
World Bank President Ajay Banga said on Tuesday the war in the Middle East would result in some degree of slower growth in the global economy and higher inflation, regardless of how quickly it ended. Banga, speaking at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council ahead of next week's meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, said the World Bank was able to quickly disburse billions of dollars in funding to countries affected by the war using its crisis windows, as it did during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. The World Bank chief said the impact of the war would depend on the severity and duration of the disruption to energy markets. A rapid end to the conflict would allow some kind of normalization in the next few months, while a longer stretch would extend the impact for six to eight months.
A new coalition announced by Anthropic suggests that the AI company is looking to partner with traditional cybersecurity vendors - not compete against them
On Tuesday, Anthropic announced CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks as members of Project Glasswing, a new initiative meant to safeguard against the fact that, as AI tools get more sophisticated, they pose increasing risk to existing online-security structures. The preview version of Anthropic's new Mythos model "has already found thousands of high-severity vulnerabilities, including some in every major operating system and web browser," the company said. "Given the rate of AI progress, it will not be long before such capabilities proliferate, potentially beyond actors who are committed to deploying them safely." The goal of Project Glasswing is to bring various technology leaders together and put AI capabilities "to work for defensive purposes," Anthropic said. Palo Alto Networks shares gained 4.9%, while CrowdStrike shares rose 6.2%.
Apple shares sink on report of foldable iPhone delays
Shares of Apple fell Tuesday after reports that the company is facing engineering challenges with its highly anticipated foldable iPhones. "Apple and the supply chain are working under a pressured timeline and the current solutions are not enough to completely solve the engineering challenges. ... More time is needed," a person familiar with the situation told Nikkei Asia. Apple, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last week, has announced four new iPhone models at its September launch event every year since 2020. The foldable phone was expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 in September 2026, but Nikkei's report raised concerns of delays. Bloomberg later reported that the phone remains on track for its September debut.
AWS teams working around the clock to keep Middle East services up after drone strikes, CEO says
The Iran war poses ongoing challenges for cloud provider Amazon Web Services, its chief, Matt Garman, said Tuesday. The Amazon division said in early March that drone strikes had damaged its data centers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. "It's a really difficult situation, and we're working incredibly hard," Garman told CNBC's Kate Rooney at the HumanX conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. "In fact, we have teams, 24/7, working to make sure that we can keep our infrastructure up for our customers in that region." Dozens of AWS services in Bahrain and United Arab Emirates continue to be unavailable, according to the company's status page. Last week, Iran's Revolutionary Guard navy announced it had targeted Amazon data center infrastructure in Bahrain.
Broadcom shares rose 6.2% after the chipmaker announced a long-term agreement with Google
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kunjan Sobhani: "Broadcom's expanded agreements with Google and Anthropic add rare multiyear visibility." "Yet a meaningful portion of the 2027 ramp-up may already be reflected in consensus. The networking-supply agreement with Google through 2031 further validates Broadcom's leadership in AI Ethernet as hyperscaler racks expand." JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur (overweight): With the Google TPU relationship locked in through 2031 across custom silicon and networking provides multi-year visibility. Anthropic commitments have scaled and "expect further upsizing going forward." Citi analyst Atif Malik (buy): Following the announcement, see upside to Broadcom's AI revenue target of $100 billion to +$130 billion.
