- Iran's Kharg Island targeted with several strikes, Iran's Kashan railway bridge hit too
- Senior Iranian source: Tehran has rejected any temporary ceasefire with the US
- Gold maintains the bearish bias as Trump's "final" deadline nears. What's next?
- Yen-tervention likely to happen in the 161 to 163 range - Nomura
- UK March final services PMI 50.5 vs 51.2 prelim
- Eurozone April Sentix investor confidence -19.2 vs -9.0 expected
- China continues to pile into gold as reserves climb for a 17th straight month
- Eurozone March final services PMI 50.2 vs 50.1 prelim
- Germany March final services PMI 50.9 vs 51.2 prelim
- France March final services PMI 48.8 vs 48.3 prelim
- Italy March services PMI 48.8 vs 50.9 expected
- Spain March services PMI 53.3 vs 50.5 expected
- Gold tracks more sideways awaiting further US-Iran developments
- What are the main events for today?
- FX option expiries for 7 April 10am New York cut
- ECB policymaker Radev: It is too early to say if a rate hike is needed for this month
- Oil prices continue to ramp higher as market optimism fades again
It's been a light session in terms of data releases as we just got the final PMIs for the major Eurozone economies and the UK. The data was mixed but mostly pointing towards further weakness amid surging prices and a slowdown in economic activity due to the US-Iran conflict and the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
There was some cautious optimism earlier in the session as rumours pointed to a breakthrough in the US-Iran negotiations for a ceasefire but everything turned around once we got the news of a Senior Iranian source saying that Tehran has rejected any temporary ceasefire proposal and set preconditions for talks on a lasting peace agreement.
Just a few minutes ago we also got reports of key Iranian infrastructure being hit by US-Israel strikes, which might be a response to the above mentioned ceasefire rejection. Mehr News said that Kargh Island was targeted with several strikes and then IRNA said that Iran's Kashan railway bridge was hit too.
If you look at markets, we are pretty much flat on the day due to the first bout of optimism followed by the decline on ceasefire rejection. Oil prices, on the other hand, are trading near the daily highs with room for more gains as we approach Trump's supposedly "final" deadline.
