Oil retreats, markets stabilize as Trump says Iran wants to negotiate

Global markets began to recover on Thursday as oil prices pulled back from their midweek highs and reports emerged that Iran had signaled willingness to resume negotiations with the United States, offering investors a partial reprieve after days of escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Oil Pulls Back, But Risks Linger

Brent crude retreated toward $78 a barrel on Thursday after briefly topping $80 on Wednesday, when the U.S. launched a second night of strikes against Iranian military targets. The pullback came after an Axios reporter tweeted that President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that Iran "called a short while ago" and said they "want to make a deal".reuters+2

Oil prices had surged earlier in the week after Iran attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the U.S. to launch strikes on more than 170 Iranian military targets across two nights. At least four oil and gas tankers turned back from attempting to cross the strait, according to Reuters, as ship-tracking data showed continued disruption to the critical waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil flows. Before the conflict, an estimated 120 to 140 vessels crossed the strait daily; by early July, crossings had fallen to as few as 31.aljazeera+3

European Recovery Stumbles in London

European blue-chip indexes mostly rose at the open on Thursday, with France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX recovering as banks and technology stocks rebounded. The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.45%.barrons+1

London's FTSE 100 was the notable outlier, falling around 0.5% as AstraZeneca ↘ 1.99% shares dropped roughly 9% after the company disclosed that Wainua, a gene-silencing drug developed with Ionis Pharmaceuticals ↘ 2.17%, failed to reduce cardiovascular events or deaths in a late-stage trial targeting a rare heart condition.bloomberg+2

Asia Steadies After Volatile Week

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 1.6% to close at 67,849.98, helped by technology shares recovering from earlier losses. South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.1% to 7,255.09 after falling 5.4% on Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng bucked the trend, shedding 0.8%.washingtonpost

Investors remain wary. The U.S. launched a total of roughly 170 strikes against Iranian air defenses, missile sites, and Revolutionary Guard naval assets this week, while Iran retaliated by striking U.S. military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait. With tanker crossings through the Strait of Hormuz continuing to decline and no formal ceasefire in place, markets face the prospect of sustained volatility if diplomacy fails to gain traction.centcom+2