This, citing sources familiar with the situation, was reported by the Financial Times, in Italy the information about participation in such negotiations was rejected

France and Italy agree with Iran on safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz

Quotes of Brent crude oil at the auction on March 13 fell to a daily low of $98.45, down 1.5% from the previous close. Futures for the U.S. Mark WTI oil also fell to $93.03, losing more than 2%. At the same time during the session, Brent jumped up to $102.75 per barrel amid the ongoing escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, while WTI traded at an intraday high above $98.

Oil has fallen below $100 a barrel: what's going on?

Benchmark Brent crude fell in morning trading in Asia, but the relief may be temporary

The US has authorized India to buy Russian oil. The discount has been replaced by a premium

Robinhood Markets, Inc.

Robinhood is set to float a fund on the New York Stock Exchange to invest in Revolut and other non-public startups. Maya, a Philippine neobank, may list in the U.S. for $1 billion. Wall Street's "eternal bear" fund Jeremy Grantham warned of the risk of a U.S. stock market collapse due to the upcoming mega-placements in 2026. The main events on the IPO market for the week are in our selection.

Robinhood, Revolut, and a "perpetual bear" warning: What's important about IPOs by Feb. 22

Oil prices jumped 3% on Wednesday amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran and the abrupt end of Russian-Ukrainian talks in Geneva just two hours after they began, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-lose-ground-hopes-de-escalation-us-iran-tensions-2026-02-18/">reported</a>. Iran has temporarily blocked part of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil supply route - according to the official version, because of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps exercises. On Thursday, February 19, Iran and Russia <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/18/oil-prices-fall-slightly-on-hopes-of-de-escalation-from-us-iran-talks-.html">will conduct</a> joint exercises in the Sea of Oman and the northern part of the Indian Ocean. While the market is pricing in the risk of a closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a new wave of escalation, India - one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil - is cutting its imports to their lowest levels since 2022 and turning back to Middle Eastern suppliers, Reuters sources <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/russian-share-indias-january-oil-142727785.html">said</a>. Against the backdrop of these shifts, an uncomfortable question arises: how marketable the Urals price and its discount to Brent remains, if the largest buyer of this oil is linked to its seller. Oil industry expert Sergey Vakulenko <a href="https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=25875782032030536&amp;id=100000762787435&amp;mibextid=wwXIfr&amp;rdid=gYshXuyY1DeOOMIo#">wrote a</a> great breakdown on his Facebook page, we publish it in full here

Who sets the Urals price in India - and what does Rosneft have to do with it?

Amazon.com, Inc.

Roblox Corporation

The Boeing Company

Oil stabilized amid expectations of US-Iran talks, which reduced geopolitical risks and weakened the price premium. Bitcoin hit a 16-month low amid a sell-off in technology stocks and investors' risk aversion. These and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of February 6.

The main thing for the morning: oil stabilized, bitcoin updated the minimum for 16 months

Palantir Technologies Inc.

The Walt Disney Company

Daily review and forecast of events on the U.S. stock market from Mikhail Denislamov, Deputy Director of Freedom Capital Markets Research.

Morning in New York: news will support buyers

The United States and India have reached a deal on duties and will immediately begin reciprocal rate cuts, President Donald Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116002095109616255">said</a> on Monday. "We have agreed to a trade agreement between the United States and India under which the United States will reduce duties from 25% to 18%. India, for its part, will begin reducing duties and non-tariff barriers against the United States to ZERO," Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116002095109616255">wrote</a>.

US and India reach trade agreement: White House will cut duties to 18%

Meta Platforms, Inc.

Alphabet Inc.

Meta is preparing to launch paid subscriptions on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp with exclusive features and advanced AI capabilities. Google agreed to pay $68 million to settle a lawsuit for illegally recording conversations through its voice assistant. About these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of January 27.

Highlights for the morning: India-EU 'deal of the decade', Meta launches paid subscriptions

In 2025, emerging market stocks confidently<a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-emerging-markets-stocks-can-keep-trouncing-the-s-p-500-3717fc49"> outperformed</a> US stocks, which was one of the main surprises of the outgoing year. By December 29, the gap in growth dynamics between the MSCI Emerging Markets (judging by <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/EEM/">the</a> largest <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/EEM/">ETF</a> following it) and the S&amp;P 500 exceeded 12 percentage points. This is like a "stretched rubber band," says Arjun Jayaraman of Causeway Capital Management: US stocks have significantly outperformed emerging markets for a long time. And now a correction has occurred.

Investor geography: which countries to look to for promising ideas in 2026 

Oracle Corporation

TikTok has launched a process to separate from ByteDance through a deal with Oracle and U.S. investors, seeking to remove political and regulatory risks in the United States. The Bank of Japan raised its key rate to a 30-year high amid the country's high inflation and record government debt. These and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of December 19.

The main thing for the morning: the fate of TikTok in the U.S., a record rate in Japan and €90 billion for Ukraine

Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft announced a record investment of $17.5 billion in India's cloud and AI infrastructure, and Amazon announced investments of over $35 billion in digitalization, exports and job creation in the country. These and other topics are covered in our review of key events for the morning of December 10.