investingLive European markets wrap: Oil ramps higher as US-Iran stalemate continues

Headlines: US futures keep more muted awaiting big day ahead Big day coming up on the earnings calendar in Wall Street Gold extends the losses amid US-Iran stalemate, hawkish central banks. What's next? Fed preview: focus on Powell’s final press conference as no policy change is expected German states see slight uptick in headline inflation for April Spain April preliminary CPI +3.2% vs +3.4% y/y expected Euro area economic climate worsens further in April as inflation expectations jump Markets: WTI crude breaks $100 mark, up 3.3% to $103.20 S&P 500 futures up 0.1%, European indices down 0.2% to 0.5% USD steady, NZD lags on the day US 10-year yields up 0.8 bps to 4.361% Gold down 0.5% to $4,571 Bitcoin up 1.5% to $77,609 It was another tense session in Europe today as markets continue to be gripped awaiting further US-Iran developments. US president Trump warned of an "indefinite blockade" yesterday and told Iran to "get smart soon" overnight. Otherwise, he said that there will be "no more Mr. Nice Guy" with this picture of him attached to his tweet (yes, this is not a joke): Oil prices continue to ramp higher with WTI crude now firmly breaking the $100 mark on the day. We're seeing price go up by over 3% to $103.20, as fear continues to grow that the stalemate on the Strait of Hormuz will play out for longer. Meanwhile, "front-month" Brent crude i.e. July contract is also seen up over 3% to $107.50 on the day. As for the overall risk mood, things are keeping on edge as US-Iran talks remain in limbo still. Wall Street will be eyeing key risk events on the economic calendar today though. The Fed meeting and big tech earnings are the two main things to watch out for. On the latter, we'll be seeing Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft report earnings before Apple rounds things off tomorrow. S&P 500 futures are marginally up by 0.1% with Nasdaq futures up 0.2% on the day. In Europe, major indices are holding slight losses across the board. In other markets, the dollar is keeping steadier with EUR/USD hugging the 1.1700 level amid large option expiries. USD/JPY is up 0.1% to 159.83 while AUD/USD is down 0.3% to 0.7157 as the push and pull continues among major currencies. Looking to precious metals, gold is down 0.5% to $4,571 amid a more tepid risk mood with silver down 0.7% to $72.55 on the day. US-Iran headlines will still be the key driver of broader market sentiment but just be wary that there are other factors in play in US trading later, not to mention month-end shenanigans too. This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.