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Oil at three-week high as US-Iran peace talks stall; China blocks Meta’s takeover of AI agent Manus – business live | Business

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Oil at three-week high as US-Iran peace talks stall

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets, and the world economy.

The new week begins with the oil price rising, again, as the stalled US-Iran peace talks threaten to extend disruption to crude supplies from the Middle East.

Brent crude has jumped about 2% this morning to a high of $107.97 a barrel, the highest level since the two sides agreed a ceasefire on 7 April.

Prices rose after Donald Trump cancelled his plan to send US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for ceasefire talks in Pakistan on Saturday, saying “too much time” has been “wasted on travelling”.

The US president then doubled down on this position, telling Fox News:

double quotation mark“If they ⁠want to talk, they ​can come to us, or ​they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have ​nice, secure lines.”

However, there are signs of positive developments… Axios are reporting that Tehran has given the US a new proposal to reopen the strait of Hormuz, and end the war, with nuclear negotiations postponed for a later date.

So, geopolitics will continue to dominate the markets, at the start of a big week, with several big central banks taking interest rates decisions in the days ahead.

As Mohit Kumar, economist at Jefferies, explains:

double quotation markTalks have stalled between US and Iran as Iran has stated that it will not negotiate till the US blockade remains in place, while US has stated that it doesn’t know who it is negotiating with.

Our base case remains that we are moving towards a deal but tail risk of short term escalation remains. It is not in the interest of either parties to escalate further. The latest Iran proposal shows the wiliness of Iran to negotiate, while Trump already wants a deal. Hence, we believe that we will eventually move towards a deal, but with some speed bumps along the way.

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Pound at one-week high against the dollar

The pound has hit its highest level against the US dollar in just over a week.

Sterling has gained 0.2% against the dollar to $1.355 this morning, its highest level since Friday 17 April.

The dollar has dropped this morning, as investors anticipate change at the top of the US Federal Reserve.

Yesterday, Republican Senator Thom Tillis said he will allow Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh to face a vote in the Senate. That should clear the way for Donald Trump’s choice of Fed chair to take control of the US central bank.

Tillis dropped his opposition to a vote on Warsh after the Department of Justice said on Friday that it would drop its criminal investigation into current Fed chair Jay Powell, whose term ends next month.

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First Russian shadow fleet tanker enters Channel since Smyrtos boarding

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Forwarder, a Russian-flagged ship which left port in Primorsk last week, entered the Channel on Wednesday evening.



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Royal Ascot 2026, day three: news, tips and more on Gold Cup day – live | Royal Ascot

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Greg Wood

Greg Wood

Gosden and O’Brien rivalry crackles in Gold Cup

The rivalry between top trainers John Gosden and Aidan O’Brien is a long way short of a feud – “Aidan and I are big rivals”, Gosden said on Wednesday, “but we get on and we tease each other a lot. There’s no harm in that and it’s a little bit of banter.”

But it still makes for an interesting undercurrent as Gosden’s Trawlerman, bidding to become only the second eight-year-old winner since 1900, takes on the up-and-coming Scandinavia, last year’s St Leger winner, in the feature event of the week.

Gosden’s “teasing” has included frequent references to the big teams of runners that Ballydoyle sends to many Group Ones, and when O’Brien suggested last autumn that he would love to see Ombudsman, the winner of Wednesday’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes, line up for the Irish Champion Stakes, Gosden responded that his stable star would not “appreciate running against multiple entries from one stable on a track with a short straight.”

The possibility that Ballydoyle was employing “team tactics” with its runners was also highlighted after Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes, when Christophe Soumillon, on the O’Brien second-string, Puerto Rico, picked up an eight-day ban for riding “in a manner to benefit” his stable companion and second-favourite, Gstaad.

There is little chance of a dust-up over tactics in the Gold Cup, however, as Scandinavia is O’Brien’s only runner in the race and Trawlerman is likely to make his own running. The regular to-and-fro between the two trainers, though, will add extra spice to the closing stages if Trawlerman and Scandinavia are duking it out in the final furlong.

The Princess of Wales presenting the prize for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes to John Gosden on Wednesday. Photograph: Sam Mellish/Getty Images
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Interest rates kept on hold at 3.75%

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The Bank last cut interest rates in December but upheaval in the Middle East has stalled any further reductions.



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