Good morning.

The US Navy intercepted at least three Iranian oil tankers in Asian waters overnight, near India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. Washington's blockade is no longer just about Hormuz. It's going global. Brent crude jumped to $103.38 and there's no sign of this slowing down.

Oil & Energy
Oil keeps climbing. WTI hit $94.46, Brent $103.38, both up over 1.5% this morning. The Strait of Hormuz is still effectively closed, and now Iran's export routes through Asia are being cut off too. US Central Command says it has redirected 29 vessels since the blockade started. The supply squeeze is getting worse by the day.

Europe
European markets opened lower. The DAX fell 0.4%, FTSE down 0.5%. Germany halved its 2026 growth forecast to just 0.5%, which tells you everything about how the energy crisis is landing in Europe. Not all bad though, Nokia jumped 7% on strong Q1 numbers and L'Oreal surged 8% on its best quarterly growth in two years.

US Markets
US futures are pulling back after yesterday's record closes. S&P 500 futures down 0.48% at 7,137, Dow futures off 348 points to 49,320, Nasdaq giving back 0.46%. Tesla beat on earnings (41 cents vs. 37 expected) but spooked investors with a capex hike to $25 billion. Shares rose 4% after hours then faded.

Asia
In Asia, the Nikkei briefly touched 60,013, a new all-time intraday high, before closing down 0.75% at 59,140. Hang Seng dropped 0.92%. South Korea's Kospi was the outlier, hitting its own record intraday.

Crypto & Gold
Bitcoin pushed higher to $78,360, ETH at $2,364, both catching a bid from the broader risk-on tone earlier this week. Gold is steady at $4,746, still well below March highs but holding support. The safe-haven bid hasn't gone away, it's just competing with ceasefire optimism that keeps looking more fragile.

No major US data releases today. Iran peace talks "possible" by Friday according to Trump. That's the only thing that could change this trajectory.

Numbers and updates throughout the day.