Top stories for the morning: oil falls, gold rises, Uber prepares mega deal

Oil fell in price by 6% after signals of progress in negotiations between the US and Iran on opening the Strait of Hormuz: Brent fell below $98, WTI - to $90 per barrel. Against this background, gold rose above $4560 per ounce, although investors still doubt the stability of the agreements and are waiting for specifics on the Iranian nuclear program and sanctions. About these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of Ma. 25.

Oil prices fell by more than 5-6% after US President Donald Trump's statements about progress in talks with Iran on opening the Strait of Hormuz, CNBC reports. Brent contracts fell to $97.5 a barrel, while WTI fell to $92. Over the past week, U.S. oil fell in price by more than 8%.

Trump said the U.S. would not rush into an agreement, but the talks were "constructive". The Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world's oil passed before the war, remains partially blocked by Iran, and Washington maintains restrictions against Iranian ports and ships until a deal is signed.

Gold rose more than 1%, rising above $4560 per ounce in the moment, after signals of progress in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reports. Investors are counting on easing inflationary pressures and stabilization of the oil market.

At the same time, analysts note that the market reaction remains restrained: traders are waiting for more concrete agreements after a series of unfulfilled statements of Donald Trump. Since the beginning of the conflict in February, gold is still cheaper by about 13% amid expectations of a Fed rate hike. At the time of publication, the precious metal is trading at $4555.7 per ounce. Silver costs $77.6 (also growing by 2.79%).

Chinese President Xi Jinping sharply criticized Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during his talks with Donald Trump for increasing military spending and strengthening the country's defense policy, the Financial Times reports. According to sources, the topic of Japan became the most tense part of the summit and took the US delegation by surprise.

Trump responded by saying that Tokyo was toughening its stance because of threats from the DPRK. Relations between China and Japan remain tense after statements by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan and the build-up of Japanese military capabilities, to which Beijing responded with trade restrictions and reduced contacts.

Uber is discussing raising its offer to buy Delivery Hero after one of the German delivery service's largest shareholders rejected an offer of €38 per share that valued the company at more than €11.5 billion, the Financial Times has learned. Uber had previously offered €33 per share and some investors are now demanding a price above €40, which corresponds to a company valuation of around €13 billion.

Delivery Hero is also claimed by DoorDash, and the company itself is considering selling the business in its entirety or spinning off assets in the Middle East and Korea. Uber already owns 19.5% of Delivery Hero and is studying the possibility of increasing its stake above 30%, which could be a step towards a full-fledged takeover, the newspaper points out.

- Japan's broad Topix index was up 1.2 percent on May 25, while the Nikkei 225 was up 3.1 percent.

- Hong Kong's bourse is closed due to holidays, mainland China's CSI 300 index rose 1.1 percent.

- South Korea's stock exchange is closed due to holidays.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.4%.

- Futures on S&P 500 grew by 0.9%. Futures on Nasdaq Composite - by 1.4%. Exchange contracts on Dow Jones Industrial Average - by 0.8%. In the U.S. stock exchanges will also be closed - on this day the country celebrates Memorial Day.

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