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April 9, 2026 – 08:00

(Bloomberg) — Stocks declined and oil rose as optimism over the US-Iran ceasefire faded after Tehran said several terms of the agreement had been breached, highlighting lingering uncertainty in markets.

Asian shares fell 0.9% after Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said three clauses of the ceasefire proposal have been contravened so far. Stock futures for Wall Street and European benchmarks dropped 0.2%, indicating a four-day run of gains for global stocks is primed to end.

Weighing on the mood was Brent crude, which rose 2.4% to about $97 a barrel — rebounding from its worst plunge in more than six years — with little traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Stocks surged globally on Wednesday on optimism the ceasefire deal would help restore oil flows through the strait and support economic growth.

Treasuries were steady after wiping out an early rally in the US session. Government bonds in Japan and Australia also retreated on concern higher oil prices will fan inflation.

The whipsaw trading shows how tentative sentiment remains after a cross-asset relief rally sparked by Washington’s pledge to halt strikes on Iran for two weeks and pursue talks with the Islamic Republic. Israeli attacks in Lebanon and the continued effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a key artery for crude oil flows from the Middle East — threaten to derail the ceasefire and stall equity gains.

“The fragility of the ceasefire is already being tested,” Peter Dragicevich, an Asia Pacific currency strategist at Corpay Solutions in Sydney, wrote in a note. “The situation in the Middle East has relatively improved, but things remain fluid and given the volatile participants involved it could deteriorate at any time.”

In other corners of the market, a Bloomberg gauge of the dollar edged up 0.1%, while Bitcoin dropped 0.5% to around $71,000. Gold traded around $4,700 an ounce.

Asian technology stocks followed US peers lower after Meta Platforms Inc. unveiled a new artificial intelligence model and Anthropic launched Claude tools for building agents.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said all ships, aircraft and military personnel will remain in and around Iran, until such time “as the real agreement reached” is fully complied with. The White House announced the US would hold direct talks with Iran and the first round of talks is set for Saturday morning in Islamabad.

Sporadic fighting continued throughout the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where Israel continued its campaign against the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia. Iranian officials cast that as violating the terms of the less than a day-old ceasefire.

“Much will depend on adherence to the ceasefire and progress in negotiations, and it will be difficult to return to the pre-conflict status quo,” said Yiping Liao, a portfolio manager at Templeton Global Investments. “While this may mark a floor for further escalation, risks remain elevated.”

What Bloomberg Strategists say…

“With Israel intensifying its strikes on Lebanon, and Iran reportedly threatening a heavy response, investors face the potential that proposed talks starting on Friday may achieve little.”

— Garfield Reynolds, Markets Live team leader. For more on the analysis, click here.

Traders are still focused on the Strait of Hormuz and whether energy flows will resume through the waterway.

The strait remained largely blocked on Wednesday, as shipowners try to understand if they can safely transit the vital waterway following a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran that was announced overnight. Just three ships were observed leaving the region on Wednesday, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

“The trouble with ceasefires is that they often require both sides to agree to a set of terms, and then actually cease fire,” said Molly Schwartz, a cross-asset macro strategist at Rabobank. “However, if the set of terms are not comprehensively established and neither side can be held accountable to pause hostilities, then the so-called ‘ceasefire’ loses all meaning.”

Corporate Highlights:

Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd., one of the world’s largest shipping companies, said it would need to scrutinize details of a US-Iran ceasefire agreement and its implementation before allowing its vessels to test the Strait of Hormuz. Delta Air Lines Inc. expects to incur more than $2 billion in higher fuel costs through June because of the Iran war, prompting the carrier to tread carefully and stick to its previous full-year profit forecast. Exxon Mobil Corp. lost 6% of its global production in the first quarter as the Iran war paralyzed oil and natural gas operations in the Persian Gulf. Meta Platforms Inc. debuted its latest artificial intelligence model — its first since Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg embarked on an overhaul of the company’s AI organization to keep pace with rivals. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% as of 6:50 a.m. London time Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2% The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.8% Japan’s Topix fell 0.7% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.7% Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1% The euro was little changed at $1.1662 The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 158.85 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8362 per dollar The British pound was little changed at $1.3393 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $70,930.84 Ether fell 1.2% to $2,182.65 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.29% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.395% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced seven basis points to 4.93% Commodities

Spot gold fell 0.1% to $4,714.38 an ounce West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.4% to $97.64 a barrel This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Ruth Carson, Sangmi Cha and Rong Wei Neo.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.