Main developments
Donald Trump said Iranian negotiators had contacted Washington and were keen to strike a deal. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was open to talks with the US but only within the framework of “international law”.
Trump confirmed that the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz came into effect at 10am Eastern US time on Monday. The embargo will target maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports but not ships transiting the strait between non-Iranian ports.
Oil dipped below $100 per barrel and Asian stocks rose amid the news of further talks between the US and Iran. The S&P 500 closed above its prewar level on Monday.
Israel and Lebanon will engage in high-level security discussions on Tuesday for the first time since 1993, according to the US.
The turbulence in the Middle East weighed on China’s trade as export growth in March fell short of forecasts.
China’s Xi warns world is ‘beset by disarray’
China’s Xi Jinping has said the global order is “beset by disarray” as the conflict in Iran rocks the Middle East.
The statement came as China’s leader met with the Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez in Beijing.
Xi said that both China and Spain are “nations of principle and integrity” and said the two countries should “co-operate closely to resist any regression towards the law of the jungle”.
In a speech on Monday, Sanchez said Spain views China as a stabilising force in the international order but urged Beijing to do more to support peace in Ukraine and Iran.
BP’s oil traders enjoy ‘exceptional’ quarter
BP said its oil traders had an “exceptional” first quarter after the Iran war sent crude prices soaring.
The energy shock unleashed by the war has left traders and refineries scrapped for any available cargoes to replace the huge volumes that have been trapped in the Gulf by the conflict.
Last week the price of oil in the North Sea for immediate delivery hit a record high of almost $147 a barrel.
In a trading statement ahead of its results on April 28, BP also said its net debt would be roughly $3-$5bn higher in the first quarter as it increased the amount of working capital, the money it needs for day-to-day operations, to ensure it had enough cash on hand to steer through the current turbulence.
Last week, Shell also said it expected a significant boost to its trading business from the war.