Top Stories This Morning: Iran Deal in Doubt, Oil at $80, Kalshi Considers an IPO

The U.S. and Iran have postponed their first round of talks on implementing the peace agreement, although Donald Trump continues to refer to the agreements reached as an “unconditional surrender” by Tehran. Against this backdrop, the price of Brent crude has returned to $80 per barrel. Read about these and other topics in our roundup of key events as of the morning of June 19.

Talks between the U.S. and Iran scheduled for Friday, June 19, at the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock will not take place, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said, according to Reuters. The meeting was supposed to be the first step in discussions on implementing the memorandum signed by Washington and Tehran to end the conflict. The document provides for 60 days of negotiations on a final settlement, the resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and framework agreements on the nuclear program.

The White House previously reported that U.S. Vice President Jim Vance had canceled a trip to Switzerland, where he was scheduled to meet with Iranian officials to launch a negotiation process. The reasons for the postponement have not been officially specified.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated in an interview with Axios that the agreement reached with Iran effectively amounts to “unconditional surrender” by Tehran, and that the conflict itself was halted before it could trigger a global economic depression.

Trump also stated that he had not yet seen the limits of his power, rejected criticism from his opponents, and emphasized that further escalation would not yield results as long as the Strait of Hormuz remained closed. Meanwhile, oil tankers and cargo ships have resumed passage through the strait, and the U.S. has ceased measures to block maritime traffic off the coast of Iran.

Oil prices rose to $80 per barrel on Friday after hovering near their lowest levels since the start of the war. Brent closed at $79.85 the previous day and rose 0.3% to $80.1 during morning trading on June 19. The market is assessing the prospects for a temporary agreement between the U.S. and Iran and monitoring signs of a resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. According to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, tankers carrying more than 12 million barrels of oil passed through the strait overnight, and Iran has not obstructed shipping traffic for the second day in a row.

OPEC Secretary-General Haisam al-Gais stated that the organization does not expect global oil demand to peak in the foreseeable future and does not agree with the International Energy Agency’s forecasts of an impending supply glut.

The Japanese yen fell below 161 per dollar and hit its lowest level since July 2024, approaching its weakest exchange rate since 1986, according to CNBC. The currency’s decline has heightened expectations of further intervention by Japanese authorities, even though the country’s Ministry of Finance already spent more than $70 billion to prop up the yen in May, and the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to their highest level since 1995.

Japanese officials say they are prepared to take measures against speculative exchange rate fluctuations, but analysts believe the pressure on the yen is structural. The dollar is being supported by high yields on U.S. Treasury bonds, while the Japanese government’s economic policy remains focused on growth and relatively loose monetary conditions. A weak yen helps exports, but at the same time fuels imported inflation and reduces household purchasing power, the TV channel notes.

Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, is recalling about 3,900 robotaxis in the U.S. for a software update following a series of incidents in which self-driving cars drove into roadwork zones on highways, according to CNBC. The recall was prompted by 13 incidents in Phoenix and the San Francisco area, where the vehicles ended up on closed or under-construction sections of road.

Until the issue is resolved, Waymo has restricted the use of its robotaxis on highways and is working on updating the system. This is the company’s second voluntary recall in recent months: previously, the self-driving cars were recalled due to driving on flooded road sections. Analysts note that until the fixes are implemented, the pace of Waymo’s service expansion could slow significantly.

The American prediction market platform Kalshi is considering an IPO and is already in informal talks with investment banks, The Information has learned. According to its sources, the company’s annual revenue exceeded $2 billion, having roughly tripled since November 2025 thanks to a sharp increase in trader activity on contracts related to sports and global events. In the first two weeks of June, trading volume on the platform reached $10 billion, compared with $435 million a year earlier.

Kalshi aims to attract institutional investors and offers banks the opportunity to integrate with its platform. In May, the company raised $1 billion in funding at a valuation of $22 billion. However, approximately 70% of its trading volume comes from sports contracts, which have become the subject of legal disputes in several states. Perpetual cryptocurrency futures could serve as an additional growth driver; trading volume for these contracts has already exceeded $8.5 billion in less than two weeks after their launch.

— Japan's broad-market Topix index fell 1.1%, while the Nikkei 225 fell 0.5%.

— Stock exchanges in mainland China and Hong Kong are closed for the holidays.

— In South Korea, the KOSPI index fell by 1%, while the KOSDAQ dropped by 4.7% at once.

— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 1%.

— U.S. stock exchanges are closed for the holidays.

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