Welcome back to the City AM liveblog.
Oil is starting the new week higher and making its third consecutive session for gains after optimism for a peace deal between the US and Iran stalled over the weekend and uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz persisted.
Donald Trump has said the US is “low-keying it” with Iran, adding they were “only semi-negotiating with them.”
“We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money,” the President said.
It follows Israel rejecting a 15-point plan constructed by Trump for Gaza with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating the country’s military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed”.
Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said Iran is looking to get further concessions from the US before it agrees to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. It added it would use both “messaging and force to signal its continued intent” to control traffic.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said over the weekend that that Iran and Oman are close to agreeing on a temporary transit route through the strait, which would be for select vessels, but emphasised that a full reopening of the waterway was subject to “other conditions”.
ISW says senior officials in the Iranian regime have tied any reopening to demands including sanctions relief, the lifting of the US naval blockade, withdrawing troops from around Iran and the release of frozen assets.
The group also said that the US blockade is “imposing high costs on Iran’s oil exports and broader economy”, but the pressure has not yet caused Iranian decision-makers to soften their position on the waterway.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest market updates and analysis.
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