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April 17, 2026 – 06:54\n<\/p>\n
(Bloomberg) \u2014 A record-breaking rally in global equities stalled in Asia as investors trimmed positions ahead of the weekend while awaiting progress on extending the US-Iran ceasefire.<\/p>\n
The MSCI All Country World Index \u2014 the broadest barometer of global stocks \u2014 slipped 0.1% after a 10-day rally that drove it to a record high on Thursday. While Wall Street gauges also closed at all-time highs, momentum faded in Asia, with regional shares falling 0.9% as traders awaited signs of progress in talks aimed at sustaining a US-Iran truce set to expire next week. Equity-index futures indicated European shares would also open lower.<\/p>\n
Global crude benchmark Brent dropped 1.2% to $98.20 a barrel after President Donald Trump expressed optimism about securing a permanent ceasefire with Iran. Gold was a touch higher at about $4,800 an ounce, while Treasuries and a gauge of the dollar were little changed in a cautious end to the week.<\/p>\n
Investors are awaiting progress in talks that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, easing crude flows and relieving pressure on economies after oil prices surged following the conflict\u2019s onset in late February. While crude has pared its war-driven premium and stocks have climbed to record highs, policymakers are warning that markets may be underestimating the war\u2019s economic toll.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarkets head into the final session of the week sitting at key technical and psychological levels, with conviction still lacking as traders wait for clearer signals out of the Middle East,\u201d Nick Twidale, chief market analyst at AT Global Markets, wrote in a note.<\/p>\n
Trump claimed, without evidence, that Iran had agreed to terms it has long resisted, including giving up ambitions for a nuclear weapon and turning over nuclear material. The deal would also include \u201cfree oil\u201d and an opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the President said. The prospects for a deal with Iran are \u201clooking very good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tehran hasn\u2019t confirmed it\u2019s made those concessions.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. His comments on Thursday made no mention of Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed in a video message that he\u2019d agreed to the truce.<\/p>\n
What Bloomberg\u2019s Strategists Say..<\/p>\n
\u201cThe US-Iran conflict has clearly calmed down, but there\u2019s very little sign of that leading to a serious resumption in flows of materials out of the Strait of Hormuz. That signals strong potential for crude futures to climb back above $100 a barrel and for equities to retreat from this week\u2019s advance to records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Garfield Reynolds, MLIV Asia Team Leader. Click here for the full analysis.<\/p>\n
Traders are also focused on the dollar, which has weakened after rallying on haven demand since the war began in late February. Deutsche Bank AG and Wells Fargo & Co. are among banks declaring the greenback\u2019s war-driven haven rally is likely over as the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran prompts investors to seek riskier assets.<\/p>\n
Optimism over easing Middle East tensions has helped several equity markets unwind war-driven risk premiums. Benchmarks in Singapore and Taiwan, and China\u2019s CSI 300 Index had all reversed losses that came after the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 Stock Average ended the day at a new record high, erasing its losses from the Iran war on optimism the new peace talks may hasten the end to the conflict. The gauge dropped 1% Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsian markets are pricing in a ceasefire extension that does not yet exist,\u201d said Oriano Lizza, a sales trader at CMC Markets in Singapore. \u201cThe Nikkei has soared past its February record, while Brent crude has steadied above $94 per barrel after whipsawing at the start of the week. These moves have relied on diplomatic signals rather than a signed deal. That sets up real risk in current market positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corporate News:<\/p>\n
Netflix Inc. slid in after-hours trading after issuing a second-quarter forecast that missed analysts\u2019 expectations. Apple Inc.\u2019s marketing executive in charge of the Apple Watch, AirPods, health and smart home initiatives said he\u2019s retiring, marking a changing of the guard for a series of key product lines. TSMC\u2019s Taipei-listed shares fell as much as 1.9% on Friday, due in part to investor unease over the chipmaker\u2019s heavy reliance on a small number of hyperscaler customers. Some of the main moves in markets:<\/p>\n
Stocks<\/p>\n
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 1:53 p.m. Tokyo time Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 0.9% Japan\u2019s Topix fell 0.9% Australia\u2019s S&P\/ASX 200 fell 0.2% Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng fell 1.3% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.2% Currencies<\/p>\n
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1784 The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 159.46 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8248 per dollar Cryptocurrencies<\/p>\n
Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $74,821.82 Ether fell 0.9% to $2,330.33 Bonds<\/p>\n
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.32% Japan\u2019s 10-year yield advanced 1.5 basis points to 2.415% Australia\u2019s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 5.01% Commodities<\/p>\n
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.4% to $93.35 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.2% to $4,800.30 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.<\/p>\n
\u2013With assistance from Bernadette Toh, Toby Alder and Garfield Reynolds.<\/p>\n
\u00a92026 Bloomberg L.P.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This content was published on April 17, 2026 – 06:54 (Bloomberg) \u2014 A record-breaking rally in global equities…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[114,6144,85,46,6145],"class_list":{"0":"post-396507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-business-general","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-ticker"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}