Trump told Axios Saturday his Iran deal deadline hits Tuesday. He warned "I am blowing up everything" otherwise. The Wall Street Journal followed Sunday with Trump saying he will reveal war timing "pretty soon". Markets held fragile optimism as crude fell below $100 on reopening hopes.
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Monday on Hormuz reopening speculation. Japan and South Korea led gains as traders positioned for conflict resolution. Gold dropped on stronger dollar and rising rate cut uncertainty. The precious metal posted its worst month in 17 years.
Oil whipsawed violently last week. Brent surged 60% in March marking the biggest monthly gain since 1988. US crude soared 11% Thursday after Trump speeches stoked escalation fears then reversed Friday falling to $100. Gulf states considered new pipelines avoiding the Strait per FT reporting despite huge cost.
The FT reported governments from Bangladesh to Zambia imposed fuel rationing measures as Middle East conflict cut flows. World top energy traders got wrongfooted in early crisis days caught out by shock scale. India central bank blocked non-deliverable rupee derivatives making shorting harder as currency volatility surged.
MSTR MicroStrategy chief Michael Saylor declared "Bitcoin has won" Saturday drawing crypto attention. TSLA Tesla grabbed bull calls as analyst Eric Jackson flagged a signal preceding prior major runs fired again.
PL Planet Labs suspended Iran satellite data after US government request raising oil market tension concerns. FIFA signed prediction market deal with Adi Predictstreet boosting HOOD Robinhood sector momentum.
Chinese government bonds emerged as lone war haven per FT with yields down marginally while other major economies saw rising rates.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
