
Trump Announces Fragile Israel-Iran Ceasefire, 5% UK Defense Spending
Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes. On today's podcast: (1) Iran and Israel appeared to be nearing a pause in their 12-day war after President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire in a conflict that saw key Iranian military leaders and scientists killed, US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites and a salvo of missiles launched at Qatar. (2) An attack on a US air base near Doha on Monday that Iran billed as a retaliation to American airstrikes ordered by President Donald Trump ended with missiles were intercepted in the air, and no one was killed or hurt. The Qataris knew the missile barrage was coming. So did the Americans. The Iranians had told them. (3) Oil extended a slump as US President Donald Trump announced a tentative ceasefire between Iran and Israel. (4) UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will vow to spend 5% of British economic output on security by 2035, embracing an ambitious NATO target sought by President Donald Trump without providing a path on how to get there. (5) The European Union and Canada have signed a security partnership that moves them closer to cooperation on military purchases, as Prime Minister Mark Carney aims to reduce his country's dependence on the US for defense. (6) UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed a three-year program by Amazon.com Inc. to invest £40 billion ($54 billion) in the British economy over the next three years, including opening four new warehouses.
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CNBC
28 minutes ago
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CCTV Script 24/06/25
Tensions in the Middle East have sent global markets on a roller coaster ride. Overnight, we saw a strong rebound in U.S. equities, while oil prices plunged more than 7%—marking the biggest single-day drop in nearly three years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.89%, the S&P 500 gained 0.96%, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.94%. In the energy markets, US WTI crude futures dropped $5.33, or 7.22%, to settle at $68.51 per barrel. Brent crude futures tumbled $5.53, or 7.18%, to close at $71.48 per barrel. This chart shows how oil prices have swung since the Israel-Iran conflict began. The closing prices of both major crude futures contracts have fallen sharply from recent highs over the past two weeks—by around 10%. Analysts say several factors are behind this market reaction. Chief among them is that Iran's retaliatory strike turned out to be more restrained than many had feared. Rather than targeting critical oil infrastructure, the Iranian attack focused on a U.S. base in Qatar. Charles Kupchan'It looks like the Iranians felt that they needed to respond. It's more of a symbolic reaction. And at this point, it doesn't look like what the Iranians are doing is saying, Hey, we're ready to up the ante." Analysts note that markets are particularly sensitive to the impact on global oil supplies. As long as energy infrastructure remains intact, investor sentiment tends to stabilize. Another reason for the overnight shift is that traders appear to be turning their focus back to oil market fundamentals. Donald Trump once again called on U.S. energy producers to boost output, and in recent months, OPEC+ has raised its production targets multiple times. Many in the market now expect that global oil supply will outpace demand in the second half of this year. Earlier, there were widespread concerns that Iran might attempt to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. But falling oil prices suggest that traders are now assigning a lower probability to that scenario. Still, some experts warn against complacency. Matt Gertken'It's getting ahead of ourselves. It's not entirely off the table. Closing the Strait of Hormuz was always something that would only happen if the Iranians were convinced that the regime was absolutely going down, and they had no other choice, but that could still happen if we had a series of bad events and in a downward spiral." Michael O'Hanlon'As we learn from history, are not so easily controlled. And there are still multiple additional question marks about Iran's next moves, including whether it enters into negotiations on its nuclear program. And I'm doubtful about that."


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