Top stories for the morning: U.S. discusses Iran proposal, bitcoin rises to highest since January

The US has considered Tehran's new peace proposal, but insists on its "red lines". Bitcoin on this background rose to $79.5 thousand - the maximum since the end of January. About these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of April 28.

Washington is considering Tehran's new proposal to end the eight-week war, but insists on its "red lines" - primarily preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt told Bloomberg.

Axios and the Associated Press reported Monday that the deal in question is a temporary one: Iran is willing to open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting the port blockade, postponing more complex nuclear negotiations.

US President Donald Trump has already held a meeting with his national security team and promised to issue a statement soon, the agency writes.

Bitcoin rose to $79,488, the highest since late January, but then fell back to around $77,000 amid uncertainty over talks between the U.S. and Iran, Bloomberg writes. The market was initially supported by news of a possible deal to open the Strait of Hormuz, but rising oil prices reduced risk appetite.

OpenAI has fallen short of its pre-IPO user growth and revenue plans in recent months, The Wall Street Journal has learned. The startup's CFO Sarah Fryer previously warned that with slowing revenues, the AI company may not have enough money for future computing contracts.

According to the publication, ChatGPT's growth also slowed towards the end of last year, and its goal of reaching an audience of 1 billion active users per week was not achieved.

Foreign auto companies have warned the Trump administration that they may stop selling the most affordable cars in the U.S. market if the U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade agreement is not renewed or its terms worsen, The Wall Street Journal has learned.

According to the publication's sources, without favorable terms of the agreement, the production and sale of budget models in the United States may become unprofitable.

Shares of logistics company Nippon Express Holdings soared 18% after activist fund Elliott Investment Management disclosed a 5.04% stake in it, the biggest intraday rise in Nippon Express' stock price in history, Bloomberg calculated.

It is not yet clear what Elliott's intentions are for the company, but in many of its Japanese investments, the fund has focused on businesses with large real estate holdings that are not carried at market value, the agency wrote. The activist investor has been pushing companies to sell the real estate and channel the proceeds into share buybacks.

- Japan's broad Topix index rose 0.7 percent, while the Nikkei 225 fell 1.3 percent.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1 percent, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index lost 0.2 percent.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.9%, while the Kosdaq fell 0.8%.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.7 percent.

- Futures on the S&P 500 fell by 0.1%, futures on the Nasdaq Composite - by 0.3%. Exchange contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained virtually unchanged.

- The price of Brent crude oil rose by 2.3% and exceeded the mark of $110 per barrel. North American WTI was trading at more than $98 per barrel.

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