International Early Morning News | Iran Accepts Ceasefire Proposal, Dow Futures Surge Over 900 Points, NY Oil Plummets Over 16%

Middle East Developments | Iran Accepts Ceasefire Proposal as Dow Futures Surge by Over 900 Points; WTI Crude Plunges by More Than 16%

After Trump agreed to pause attacks on Iran for two weeks, Iran said it accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by Pakistan, with U.S.-Iran talks scheduled to begin Friday in Islamabad. Spurred by the news, U.S. stock Dow futures rose by 940 points, while New York electronic trading for crude oil widened its decline to 16.55%, to $94.26 per barrel.

Middle East Developments | Trump: Agreed to a Two-Week Pause on Attacks on Iran

In a social media post, Trump said the U.S. agreed to suspend bombing and attack actions against Iran for two weeks. He set a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, originally due to expire at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time in the U.S. (8:00 a.m. Wednesday in Hong Kong). At one point, he threatened Iran, saying, “Tonight, the whole of civilization will perish.” If no agreement is reached, the U.S. military will carry out large-scale strikes against Iran’s civilian infrastructure. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Turk said that remarks threatening to wipe out “the whole of civilization” are outrageous. Earlier, Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz proposed a “two-week plan” to put a pause on the U.S.-Iran situation.

Middle East Fighting | Israel Strikes Iran Railways and Bridge Targets; U.S. Targets on Halk Island

Before the deadline for U.S.-Iran talks that Trump had originally set for Tuesday evening, the United States and Israel intensified strikes against Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel’s airstrikes hit multiple Iranian railways and bridges. U.S. officials said the U.S. military carried out strikes on military targets on Iran’s Halk Island, including shelters, radar sites, and ammunition storage facilities. U.S. Vice President Vance said the U.S. military’s military targets in Iran have been achieved, and the war will end soon. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned neighboring countries, saying restraint has ended and it will strike U.S. and allied infrastructure, threatening to cut off U.S. and allied oil and natural gas supplies to the region in the coming years.

Foldable iPhone Reportedly Encounters Issues in Engineering Testing; Apple Once Fell by More Than 5%

A report by Nikkei Asia said the foldable iPhone ran into setbacks during the engineering testing stage and production and shipment plans may be delayed. Dragged down by the news, Apple’s stock price fell as much as 5.1% on Tuesday, and still closed down 2.1%.

U.S. Stocks Performance | Dow Closes Down 85 Points After Being Down 455 Intraday

On the eve of the ceasefire deadline set by Trump for Iran, Iran’s oil hub Halk Island and other infrastructure facilities were reportedly hit. With markets worried the conflict would escalate further, the Dow fell 455 points on Tuesday, only clawing back 85 points by the close. The S&P rose 0.08%; the Nasdaq slid and closed up 0.1%, after dropping as much as 1.75% intraday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (H-share) fell 0.94%. Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz proposed extending the U.S.-Iran talks deadline by two weeks. Investors held hope for Pakistan’s mediation, helping U.S. stocks broadly recover their losses. Tesla fell 1.8%, Walmart slid 3.4%, and UnitedHealth rose 9.4%.

Outside Market Focus Quick Notes

￭ The White House’s semi-official social media communications account posted saying the U.S. denies it is considering using nuclear weapons in Iran. Earlier, a news channel posted on social media implying that U.S. Vice President Vance had mentioned the possible use of nuclear weapons against Iran.
￭ The latest survey results from the New York Fed show that due to a surge in energy prices driven by the Middle East war, U.S. consumers’ one-year inflation expectations for March rose to 3.42%, higher than the prior value of 3%.
￭ New York Fed President Williams said the impact of the Iran war will push up the overall inflation rate, and inflation this year should be around 2.75%.
￭ Based on the U.S. employment data for March released last Friday, Citi said it was stronger than expected. It pushed the timing for the Fed to resume rate cuts from June to September, but still expects three rate cuts this year; the other two will be in October and December, respectively.
￭ The UN Security Council voted on a draft resolution submitted by countries including Bahrain concerning the Strait of Hormuz. As member states disagreed over the wording and response measures, the draft ultimately failed to pass with 11 votes in favor, 2 abstentions, and both China and Russia—two permanent members—voting against.
￭ U.S. durable goods orders for February fell 1.4% month over month; the market expected a 1% drop.
￭ Ackman’s Pershing Square announced an acquisition offer for Universal Music Group, valuing the deal at €55.8 billion.
￭ U.S. 10-year Treasury yields once fell 3.4 basis points to 4.3%, while 2-year Treasury yields turned down 4.6 basis points to 3.804%.
￭ The U.S. dollar index once fell 0.36% to 99.62; the Japanese yen fell 0.23% before stabilizing afterward; the euro rose 0.52%.
￭ At 3:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, the overnight onshore yuan rate (CNY) closed at 6.8609, up 250 points from the previous overnight close.
￭ Bitcoin once slid 3.02% to $67,724.
￭ WTI crude oil futures once jumped 4.64%, topping at $117.63 per barrel. It closed up 0.48% at $112.95. Brent crude turned lower, closing down 0.45% at $109.27. According to data from the London Stock Exchange, Brent North Sea Forties spot crude once surged to $146.09 per barrel, above 2008 levels, and set a new all-time record high.
￭ Iran’s parliament speaker Kalibaf announced he has joined the “Martyr for Iran” campaign, saying that those who threaten or demand Iran’s surrender point their hands at Tehran, and that his fingers will surely be cut off. Iran’s President Pezeshkian said that as of now, more than 14 million Iranians have registered as volunteers to give their lives to defend Iran, including himself.
￭ Hungary will hold a general election on Sunday. U.S. Vice President Vance will visit Budapest to campaign for the prime minister, Orban, who is lagging in the opinion polls. When Vance and Orban attended a press conference, they criticized the EU’s interference in Hungary’s election as shameful.
￭ Italy’s defense minister Crosetto, in an interview published in the “Evening Post,” pointed out that the Iran war has put the U.S.’s global leadership position in jeopardy, adding that he is worried about the “madness” of nuclear escalation and fears the conflict may develop toward something worse.
￭ Pan-European Stoxx 600 closed down 1.01%. Stocks in the U.K., France, and Germany fell 0.84%, 0.67%, and 1.06%, respectively.
￭ Former Bank of Japan board member Makoto Ando said that given that the Middle East war has caused a surge in oil prices and increased the risk that the Bank of Japan may fall behind in responding to intensifying inflation pressures, the central bank is likely to raise rates before July.
￭ Kuomintang chairperson Zheng Liliwen led a delegation to start a visit to the mainland on Tuesday for six days. It is understood that Zheng Liliwen is expected to meet with CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping on the 10th of this month.
￭ The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced that as of the end of March China’s foreign exchange reserves were $3,342.1 billion, down 2.5% month over month. However, the PBOC has increased gold holdings for 17 consecutive months. At the end of March, gold reserves were 74.38 million ounces, up 0.16 million ounces month over month.
￭ Special Envoy of the Chinese government for Middle East Affairs Zhai Jun met with the French ambassador to China Bai Yutang by appointment. Zhai Jun said that the Middle East conflict is continuing to escalate and spill over, endangering regional peace and stability, and that China and France should work together to promote talks and stop the war.
￭ Chen Lihua, honorary chairperson of Fuhua International Group and a former top female tycoon in China, died in Beijing on the 5th of this month after unsuccessful medical treatment for illness. She was 85.
￭ The NDRC said that starting from 12:00 a.m. on Wednesday, domestic gasoline and diesel prices should be increased by 800 yuan and 770 yuan per ton, respectively. After the adjustments, the actual increases are 420 yuan and 400 yuan.

Local Focus Quick Notes

￭ The Hang Seng ADR Index closed at 25,241, up 124 points versus Hong Kong. HSBC (00005) rose 2.7%, Xiaomi (01810) rose 1.5%, and AIA (01299) and CLP (00002) rose by more than 1%.
￭ Hang Seng Index night futures closed at 25,233, with a premium of 116 points.
￭ Liang Xhi, chairperson of the Hong Kong Hotels, Catering and Tourism Association, said that during the extended holidays for Easter and Qingming, the hotel industry overall business was better than last year, with room rates rising 15% to 20%, and many hotels had occupancy rates reaching 100%. However, business in the catering sector fell 15% to 20% on weekdays compared with weekends.
￭ In the final day of the Easter and Qingming holiday period, the Immigration Department said that as of 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, a total of more than 996k people times entered and exited, including nearly 690k inbound travelers and more than 307k outbound travelers.
￭ A Plus Management, which has taken over the management committee of the Grandview Garden Corporation, will hold an owners’ briefing session in early May. Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Mai Meijuan emphasized that the date of the briefing session will not “conflict” with the date of the hearing and the days residents move upstairs.
￭ Education Bureau Director Cai Ruolian said the North Metropolis University City should not only leverage Hong Kong’s advantageous disciplines and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area industrial chain, but also connect the “last mile” from laboratories to production lines to drive the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements.
￭ Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Cin-wan said the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has added new clauses when renewing restaurant licenses since May last year. It is expected that as licenses keep getting updated, by September this year, all licenses will also have national security clauses.
￭ Doctor Su Zunjian, known by the public as the “handsome doctor,” was criticized for leaking patients’ private information. The Kowloon West Hospital Cluster said it has completed its investigation, confirming that the staff member breached staff codes, has terminated the contract with the parties involved, and will refer the relevant case to the Medical Council for follow-up under the relevant mechanism.
￭ Phase 13B of Hoi Mei Wan I at Sunrise Bay, which is being developed led by Shun Tak Holdings (00083), held its second round sales of 168 units on Tuesday. The company sold 152 units that day, raising more than HK$1.1 billion in a single day. On the same day, it additionally launched a fourth price list for 127 units, offering a discounted sale price ranging from HK$6.0069 million to HK$9.4962 million.
￭ Brazil has added BYD (01211) to a “blacklist,” which includes employers deemed to have imposed conditions on workers similar to forced servitude. Golden Law Group, the contractor involved in recruiting 163 workers for BYD, denied the allegations.
￭ Beijing Tianxing Medical Co., Ltd. has passed the listing hearing at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with plans to list on the Main Board in Hong Kong.
￭ UBTECH (09880)’s intelligent logistics subsidiary Youqi has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Japan’s Honda Trading (China).