Brent above $105, stocks in Europe and US futures down: what's happening in the markets

Shares in Europe fell at the opening of trading on the background of renewed growth in oil prices. The cost of Brent was again over $105 per barrel. Investors are trying to keep track of contradictory reports on the prospects of the end of the US war with Iran, which negatively affects their desire to take risks.

- The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was falling 0.6 percent.

- France's CAC 40 was down 0.55 percent.

- Britain's FTSE 100 was losing about 0.7%.

- The cost of Brent crude oil rose by almost 3% and again exceeded $105 per barrel. However, by the opening of markets in Europe, growth had slowed slightly to 2.4%, which corresponds to $104.7 per barrel.

- U.S. stock futures were declining. Contracts for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq 100 were down about 0.2-0.4%, slowing down slightly.

- Spot gold prices were losing 1.4% - at about $4442.6 per troy ounce. Silver cheapened by 3% - to $69.1.

- In Asia, the S&P/ASX 200 index fell by 0.1% at the end of trading, the MSCI AC Asia Pacific index - by 1.1%. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by almost 2%, and the index of mainland China CSI 300 - by 1.3%. In South Korea, the Kospi collapsed by 3.2%.

- The MSCI All Country World index is headed for its first drop this week on Thursday, Bloomberg writes.

The US insists that negotiations with Iran are ongoing, while Tehran denies this and presents its own conditions to end the war. U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday, March 25, that Iran "really wants to make a deal but is afraid to talk about it," Bloomberg reports. A day earlier, Bloomberg and The New York Times sources said that the US had handed Iran a 15-point peace plan.

Trump is telling associates that he would like to avoid a protracted war with Iran and end it by mid-Ma, interlocutors told The Wall Street Journal. Trump is scheduled to visit China in Ma for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping: the meeting was supposed to take place in March, but was postponed because of the war.

According to Iran's Fars news agency, Tehran is working on a bill that would impose fees on ships for passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open sea. Before the war, about 20% of the world's oil supply passed through this artery, but after the outbreak of hostilities Iran effectively blocked it.

"Markets are extremely driven by [news] headlines, with different, conflicting messages on the Iran situation. Markets need more certainty about what the outcome might be. Until there is an agreement on the terms of the ceasefire, unfortunately, we will continue to see these fluctuations," said IG International analyst Febian Yep(quoted by Bloomberg).

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This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor