South Korean stocks shot up another 6% on Wednesday and Samsung Electronics reached $1 trillion in market cap, two milestones on a remarkable year that seen the Kospi index surge 75% this year and nearly triple over the last 52 weeks.
South Korean stocks shot up another 6% on Wednesday and Samsung Electronics reached $1 trillion in market cap, two milestones on a remarkable year that seen the Kospi index surge 75% this year and nearly triple over the last 52 weeks.
Oil slumped for a second day after Axios reported that the US and Iran are getting close to a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war. Brent fell as much as 7% to $102.22 a barrel in London, while West Texas Intermediate lost up to 7.7%. Axios said the memo, which would include both sides lifting restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, hasn’t yet been agreed and the US sees Iran respondi...
Oil slumped for a second day after Axios reported that the US and Iran are getting close to a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war. Brent fell as much as 7% to $102.22 a barrel in London, while West Texas Intermediate lost up to 7.7%. Axios said the memo, which would include both sides lifting restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, hasn’t yet been agreed and the US sees Iran responding within 48 hours. President Donald Trump said earlier in a Truth Social post the US would pause an effort to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz to see if a deal can be reached with Iran. “Great Progress” has been made on a final agreement to end the war conflict, he added. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the mediator in Iran-US talks, said in a post on X that he is “hopeful that the current momentum will lead to a lasting agreement that secures durable peace and stability for the region and beyond.” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Iran to keep negotiating in pursuit of a lasting truce with the US, as he hosted Tehran’s top diplomat just days before Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing. Crude has climbed by about 50% since the conflict started at the end of February, cutting off hundreds of millions of barrels of Persian Gulf oil from global markets. Flows through the critical chokepoint are now constrained by a double blockade, with Tehran obstructing shipping while the US is stopping vessels from accessing Iranian ports. Earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at the White House that “Operation Epic Fury is concluded,” 66 days after the US and Israel began bombing Iran. “We achieved the objectives of that operation,” he said. On Tuesday, Washington played down the prospect of a return to active war, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirming the truce that began just under a month ago is still in place. Meanwhile, General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said attacks by Iran on vessels in the Persian Gulf a...