WS #13301

The dominant theme is a sharp de-escalation in the US-Iran conflict, with President Trump announcing the cancellation of planned strikes and new talks beginning Monday. This has triggered a significant drop in oil prices (Brent -5.1% to ~$83.4, WTI -5.8% to ~$79.8), which is a major bullish catalyst for equity markets globally, particularly in Asia and Europe. However, the situation remains fragile: Iran's foreign ministry says talks are only with Oman over a Hormuz route, not with the US, and that the strait will not reopen while US 'aggression' continues. This counter-signal suggests the oil price drop may be overdone, and any failure of talks could reverse the move. Separately, the yen surged after confirmed joint US-Japan intervention, pressuring Japanese equities (Nikkei -1.9%) and Korean stocks (Kospi -4.5%), the latter also hit by a memory-chip leverage unwind. In corporate news, AstraZeneca is in talks to acquire Bristol Myers Squibb in a near-$400bn deal, a major pharma M&A signal. Apple is sliding on supply shortages, losing ~$500bn in market value, a high-significance MAG7 negative. The Coldcard Bitcoin hack is ongoing, with ~1,367 BTC stolen, adding to crypto market jitters.