27/04/2026
It is reported that Iran has proposed to the United States the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a move that has eased market concerns about a deadlock in efforts to restart peace negotiations between the two countries. Boosted by this news, global stock markets generally rose, while the increase in international oil prices narrowed significantly. As the only waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the outside world, the Strait of Hormuz handles more than a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil and about one-fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, and its navigability directly affects the stability of the global energy market.
In terms of stock markets, the MSCI Asia Pacific benchmark index rose 1.7%, and the emerging markets index hit a record high. Earlier reports indicated that Iran had put forward a war-ending plan that includes delaying nuclear negotiations, which further improved market sentiment. Among them, Asian chip stocks performed particularly prominently. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (tsmc), Asia’s largest stock by market capitalization, saw its stock price soar 6% to a record high, driving the Asian technology stock index to also hit a new all-time high. tsmc’s strong performance is due to the strong demand for advanced chips brought about by the continuous growth in global artificial intelligence (AI) spending, and its leading position in the field of advanced AI chip manufacturing has made it one of the biggest beneficiaries of the industry.
Regarding U.S. and European stock markets, stock index futures show that Wall Street stock indexes are expected to extend the closing records set last Friday; European stock markets are expected to open 0.3% higher. Overall, global stock markets started the week near or at all-time high levels. Among them, the S&P 500 Index has risen nearly 10% since the end of March, and is expected to post its best monthly gain since the end of 2020.
In the energy and foreign exchange markets, Brent crude oil’s gains narrowed, eventually rising 1% to $106.50 per barrel after an intraday gain of 2.5%. The market generally believes that if the Strait of Hormuz reopens, it will allow oil and natural gas to be transported normally through this important Middle Eastern waterway, thereby easing the tight energy supply situation. Meanwhile, the FXCG US Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
It is worth noting that the U.S.-Iran situation fluctuated over the weekend, and efforts to restart negotiations suffered setbacks. At that time, U.S. President Trump canceled his envoy’s visit, while Iran clearly stated that it would not conduct negotiations under threats. Although global stock markets have now recovered most of the losses related to the Iran war and hit record highs, this week’s rally will face a crucial test – major central banks such as the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank will successively announce their policy decisions, and a number of large technology companies will also release their financial reports in a concentrated manner.
In the Treasury bond market, U.S. Treasury bond prices edged lower on Monday, giving back some of the gains from last Friday, mainly because the U.S. Department of Justice announced the termination of a related criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve. It is reported that the investigation originally involved the Federal Reserve headquarters renovation project. The termination of the investigation has cleared the way for Kevin Warsh, nominated by President Trump as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, to be approved by the Senate, and has also boosted market expectations that the Federal Reserve may resume interest rate cuts before the end of the year. Affected by this, the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield rose 2 basis points to 4.32%.
In terms of central bank policies, starting from Tuesday, major global central banks, including the Bank of Japan, will successively announce their latest interest rate decisions. The market generally expects major central banks to keep interest rates unchanged, but traders will closely monitor officials’ comments on the inflation risks caused by oil supply disruptions resulting from the Iran war, and the market as a whole may remain in a tense state.
In terms of financial reports, this week will usher in the busiest period of the current earnings season. The concentrated release of financial reports by Asian companies will allow investors to gain an early understanding of the actual impact of the Iran war on corporate financial performance. Among them, the performance of U.S. tech giants has attracted much attention: Alphabet Inc. (parent company of Google), Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms Inc. will release their financial reports on Wednesday, while Apple Inc. will release its report one day later. The total market value of these tech giants is close to $16 trillion, accounting for about a quarter of the total market value of the S&P 500 Index, and their performance will have an important impact on the direction of global stock markets.
An FXCG market analyst said: “This will be a crucial week.” He emphasized that the performance of these large enterprises needs to “validate the recent market rally” to further support market confidence.
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