Squawk Box Europe Express

Iran denies it is in negotiations with Washington as President Trump announces he has postponed airstrikes on critical power plants and energy facilities in the country for five days and claims a peace deal could be close. Oil prices rebound following an initial drop in the price of Brent to below $100 for the first time in almost a fortnight on the back of Trump’s comments. US and European future...

U.S. and Iran trade threats with President Trump warning he will target power stations should the Strait of Hormuz not be reopened. The Iranian leadership has hit back saying it will target energy and water supply facilities in the Gulf. South Korea’s KOSPI leads losses in Asia while European futures are in the read. Crude prices continue to rise with WTI surpassing the $100-mark once again. And p...

Israel continues to increase air strike on Iran overnight. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the country’s uranium enrichment capabilities have been destroyed but signals the possibility of a ground invasion. Central banks across Europe defer any possibility of rate cuts with the ECB and BoE warning that the Middle East conflict has blurred the inflation outlook and will push up energy prices...

Iran strikes Qatar’s main LNG facility – one of the world’s biggest – following an Israeli attack on the giant South Pars gas field. President Trump has warned of stern intervention should retaliatory strikes continue. Equities in Europe are back in the red following a two-day winning streak. The Federal Reserve holds rates steady and signalling a single cut to come this year. Chairman Jerome...

We hear exclusively from French finance minister Roland Lescure who says his country would be willing to aid the U.S. in securing the Strait of Hormuz but would require the conflict to de-escalate first. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has warned the nation faces the possibility of higher inflation and borrowing costs due to the Iran war but tells CNBC it is on a far stronger footing...

President Trump looks to postpone his China trip, saying his focus remains on the conflict in the Middle East. The U.S. leader also hits out at European allies after several reject his demand to help escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. And in markets, futures point to a day in the red on Wall Street, with Trump again calling on the Fed to cut rates ahead of its meeting starting today, aft...

President Trump calls on allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz with exports through the vital oil chokepoint remaining effectively halted, while European foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas criticizes the U.S. government’s decision to lift some energy sanctions on Russia. Oil prices tick higher as the disruption continues, with traders looking to navigate price volatility. Investors look ahead t...

Oil settles about $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022 after Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei pledges to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent say the U.S. Navy will be helping to escort tankers out of the Gulf once military conditions are met. The U.S. government has sought to further ease prices by lifting san...

Oil prices have pulled back from $100 a barrel following several attacks on merchant vessels in the Gulf. Two tankers have been reportedly attacked overnight in Iraqi waters. The IEA announces its largest strategic reserve release of 400m barrels but energy markets remain wary. President Trump and the IEA’s Fatih Birol vow to keep oil flowing. The White House launches a probe into several key trad...

Oil prices swing after the White House says the U.S. Navy did not escort a tanker through the Strait of Hormuz. The denial corrected a now-deleted social media post by Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The IEA reportedly proposes the largest-ever release of oil reserves as the Iran conflict continues to restrict the movement of global supplies. In autos news, Porsche narrowly misses FY sales expectat...

U.S. President Donald Trump hails the war effort in Iran as ‘very complete’ and has suggested some oil sanctions could be eased to shore up confidence in the market. However, Trump warned Iran could be struck even harder should it attempt to further disrupt supply. G7 energy ministers are set to discuss a potential release of strategic oil reserves. The U.S. is reportedly planning for up to 3-4 mi...

Oil prices surge to almost $120bbl overnight before falling back to $108bbl. President Trump says he does not believe the market shock will be prolonged. The G7 reportedly considers a joint release of oil from strategic reserves while reports suggest that Saudi Aramco may offer oil on the spot market. The Nikkei and Kospi lead Asian equity losses while Europe and Wall Street look set for continued...

After six days of conflict in the Middle East, President Trump says the Iranian regime is desperate to end the fighting but the country’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, refutes the claims. Washington provides India with a 30-day waiver to buy Russia oil in a bid to settle global supply concerns and stabilise rising energy prices with U.S. crude trading at just over $80bbl. We hear from Bundesba...

Global equities stage an impressive comeback as traders absorb fears about the conflict in Middle East. Tech and chip stocks lead the way in Asia with South Korea’s Kospi rebounding to potentially posting its best session in 18 years. Crude also claws back losses despite concerns of a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has vowed to protect tankers passing through the Persian Gulf....

Equity markets in Asia nose-dive with South Korea’s Kospi posts its worst session in history. Conflict in the Middle East intensifies fears of inflation causing investors to dump tech and semiconductor stocks. The U.S. and Israel continue to strike Iran with notable damage to IRGC headquarters and the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. President Trump has raised questions over who would s...

The U.S. strikes at more than 1,000 Iranian sites including IRGC facilities while Tehran retaliates by hitting the U.S. embassy in Riyadh. President Trump says he is prepared to extend the conflict if necessary. Oil and gas shipping prices surge as Iran claims it has blocked the Strait of Hormuz and vows to hit any vessels attempting to pass through. Qatar, meanwhile, has said it is suspending LNG...

U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran intensify as Tehran retaliates hitting targets across the region including American and British bases. President Trump says the attacks could last for several weeks. Crude prices surge as supply through the Strait of Hormuz come under threat. Futures on both sides of the Atlantic point to a sell-off as investors digest events in the Middle East. The tech-heavy Nasd...

The Green Party wins the Gorton and Denton by-election in Greater Manchester with Labour coming a distant third. The result will pile more pressure and scrutiny on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer ahead of crucial UK local elections in May. Netflix abandons its acquisition deal for Warner Brothers Discovery after it refused to match Paramount’s offer of $31 per share for the group’s entire media po...

Amid continuing A.I.-related jitters, Nvidia posts another set of stellar quarterly results but Salesforce disappoints with revenue forecasts coming in below analysts’ expectations. However, both companies’ CEOs tell our CNBC colleagues Stateside that market concerns are overblown. Nvidia’s results play their part in a rebound on Wall Street and help tech shares in Asia with the Nikkei closing at...

President Trump delivers the longest SOTU speech in history to defend his second-term record. Trump highlighted progress made on the economy and hailed the ‘golden age’ of America. Several new tech partnership announcements including from Anthropic boost U.S. software stocks in yesterday’s session and help push Asian equities into the green. UK banking giant HSBC posts a FY profit beat ahead of ex...

Wall Street suffers another A.I.-fueled sell-off with enterprise software and private capital leading losses. Investors’ fears reappear following the unveiling of a new Anthropic programming language and a report predicting mass white collar job losses. Asia-focused lender Standard Chartered posts a Q4 miss despite seeing a surge in its wealth management business and the announcement of a $1.5bn s...

U.S. President Donald Trump unleashes a new 15 per cent global baseline tariff – the maximum legal amount – following the Supreme Court’s ruling that reciprocal country-specific levies were illegal. The European Commission has insisted Washington honours its trade pact following Friday’s SCOTUS verdict. U.S. trade envoy Jamieson Greer says all agreements will remain in place. The tariff retaliatio...

Crude prices move higher with Brent now surpassing $70 a barrel after President Trump warns of potential consequences should Iran fail to reach a deal over its nuclear programme. U.S.-based private credit group Blue Owl announces it will halt investor withdrawals from a debt fund for retail traders, causing shares to slump across the sector. We are live at the A.I. Impact summit in New Delhi where...

News of a potential choreographed change at the top of the ECB has pushed Europe’s Stoxx 600 to another record close. Wall Street also closed in the green even though FOMC minutes signal a rate cut pause in the near term. We are live at the A.I. Impact summit in New Delhi where we hear from Microsoft CEO Brad Smith. He tells CNBC that U.S. and European tech companies should be wary of increased Ch...

We are live at the A.I. Impact summit in New Delhi where Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch tells CNBC that a large proportion of enterprise software could end up heavily disrupted by artificial intelligence. German chemicals giant Bayer settles a $7.25bn litigation deal regarding of thousands of lawsuits over the roundup weedkiller. The agreement has pushed shares up by more than 7 per cent at yesterday’s...