
Oil price drops, shares jump as Trump announces Israel-Iran ceasefire
Iran's foreign minister denied that an official ceasefire agreement had been reached, but noted that Tehran would not continue its attacks as long as Israel halted its 'aggression'. At the time of writing, Israel had yet to comment.
The truce, which Trump is labelling the end of the '12-day war', came after Iran attacked a US base in Qatar on Monday, retaliating against the US bombing of its nuclear sites over the weekend.
In response to Tuesday's development, oil prices dropped as fears over a blockage to the Strait of Hormuz subsided.
About 20% of global oil and gas flows through this narrow shipping lane in the Gulf.
Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 2.92% to $69.39, while WTI dropped 3.18% to $66.35.
Last week, Brent reached over $78 a barrel, a level not seen since the start of this year.
Looking to the US, S&P 500 futures rose 0.58% to 6,112.00 on Monday, while Dow Jones futures increased 0.51% to 43,118.00.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.89% to 8,550.10, South Korea's Kospi rose 2.75% to 3,097.28, and the Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.07% to 3,417.89.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2% to 24,162.70 and the Nikkei 225 increased 1.16% to 38,796.39.
The US Dollar Index slipped by 0.32% to 98.10. The euro gained 0.25% against the dollar while the yen dropped 0.48% in comparison to the greenback.
Economists had suggested that persistent threats to oil would increase the value of the US dollar and hurt other currencies such as the euro, notably as the US economy is more energy independent.
Greg Hirt, chief investment officer with Allianz Global Investors, told Euronews earlier this week that although the dollar may see a short lift on the Iran-Israel conflict, 'structural issues around a twin deficit and the Trump administration's volatile handling of tariffs should continue to weigh on an overvalued US dollar'.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
Trump, EU chief to meet Sunday in push for trade deal
In a drive to slash his country's trade deficits, Trump has vowed to hit dozens of countries with punitive tariff hikes if they do not hammer out a pact with Washington by August 1. The EU -- which is facing an across-the-board levy of 30-percent -- has been pushing hard for a deal with Trump's administration, while also planning retaliation should talks fall short. Von der Leyen first announced the meeting, writing on X: "Following a good call with POTUS, we have agreed to meet in Scotland on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations, and how we can keep them strong." Arriving on UK soil late Friday, Trump confirmed he would meet the head of the European Commission, which has been negotiating with Washington on behalf of the 27-nation bloc. "I'll be meeting with the EU on Sunday, and we'll be working on a deal," he told reporters as he touched down at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow. "Ursula will be here -- a highly respected woman. So we look forward to that," Trump said. "We'll see if we make a deal," added the president -- who reiterated earlier comments saying the chance of a deal was "50-50", with sticking points remaining on "maybe 20 different things." "But we're meeting ... with the European Union. And that would be, actually, the biggest deal of them all, if we make it," he said. The high-level meeting follows months of negotiations between top EU and US trade officials, and days of signals suggesting the sides were moving towards an agreement. According to multiple European diplomats, the agreement under consideration would involve a baseline 15-percent US levy on EU goods -- the same level secured by Japan this week -- and potential carve-outs for critical sectors. Von der Leyen's spokesperson Paula Pinho said "intensive negotiations" had been taking place at technical and political level in the run up to Sunday's meeting. "Leaders will now take stock and consider the scope for a balanced outcome that provides stability and predictability for businesses and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic," she said. 'In Trump's hands' Hit by multiple waves of tariffs since Trump reclaimed the White House, the EU is currently subject to a 25-percent levy on cars, 50 percent on steel and aluminium, and an across-the-board tariff of 10 percent, which Washington threatens to hike to 30 percent in a no-deal scenario. The EU wants to avoid sweeping tariffs inflicting further harm on the European economy -- already suffering from sluggish growth -- and damaging a trading relationship worth an annual 1.6 trillion euros ($1.9 trillion) in goods and services. EU member states gave the European Commission a mandate to pursue a deal to avoid hefty US tariffs, with retaliation held out as a last resort if talks fail. Seeking to keep up the pressure in the final stretch of talks, EU states on Thursday backed a package of retaliation on $109 billion (93 billion euros) of US goods including aircraft and cars -- to kick in in stages from August 7 if there is no deal. Most states prefer a deal to no deal -- even with undesirable levies of 15 percent -- but exemptions are key, with aircraft, steel, lumber, pharmaceutical products and agricultural goods under discussion, diplomats said. Concerning steel, diplomats say a compromise could allow a certain quota to enter the United States, with amounts beyond that taxed at 50 percent. Since launching its tariffs campaign, Trump's administration has so far unveiled just five agreements, including with Britain, Japan and the Philippines. While EU hopes have been rising for a deal, the approaching August 1 deadline also comes with a sense of deja-vu: earlier this month, EU officials also believed they were on the cusp of a deal, before Trump hiked his tariff threat to 30-percent.


France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
Fake AI photos of Trump with Epstein flood internet
The surge in deepfakes comes as the US president -- frequently photographed with Epstein during their 15-year friendship -- attempts to distance himself from the disgraced financier, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. One widely circulated AI-generated video appears to show Trump and Epstein leering at a group of young girls dancing, with the song "Is it a Crime?" by the English band Sade added as background music. At least two other fake photos appear to show the pair on a couch alongside underaged girls. Another such photograph purports to shows Trump dancing with a teenage girl on Epstein's private island. Overlaying the image is the caption: "Trump was in his 50's when this was taken. What kind of man does that?" At least seven such AI-generated images and one video cumulatively garnered more than 7.2 million views across social media platforms, according to a conservative estimate by disinformation watchdog group NewsGuard. The watchdog said it used multiple detection tools, including Hive and IdentifAI, to establish that the content was fabricated using AI tools and the actual number of views was likely much higher than its manual tally of high-engagement posts. Trump's ties to Epstein are extensive, and the pair were frequently pictured partying together during their friendship before they fell out in 2004 over a property deal. But there appear to be no known authentic photographs of the pair with underage girls or of Trump visiting Epstein's private island in the Caribbean, NewsGuard said. AI slop -- low-quality visual content generated using cheap and widely available artificial intelligence tools –- increasingly appears to be flooding social media sites, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. Many content creators on YouTube and TikTok offer paid courses on how to monetize viral AI slop on tech platforms, many of which have reduced their reliance on human fact-checkers and scaled back content moderation. AI-generated images of Trump spread rapidly after the FBI and Justice Department said in a July 7 memo that there was no proof that Epstein kept a "client list" of elite co-conspirators as conspiracy theorists have contended. Trump's core Make America Great Again (MAGA) base erupted in anger over the memo, calling on the White House to release the so-called "Epstein files." Some even within the Republican president's own party have demanded the files be released, but his administration has declined to do so. Fake images appear to be gaining traction in that vacuum. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the president's name was among hundreds found during an official review of the files, though there has not been evidence of wrongdoing. Trump filed a $10 billion defamation suit against the newspaper last week after it reported that he had penned a sexually suggestive letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. © 2025 AFP


Euronews
9 hours ago
- Euronews
Immigration is "killing Europe", says Trump
Upon his arrival in Scotland for a five-day trip, US President Donald Trump declared that immigration is "killing Europe". Responding to a question from a reporter on migration, he said that "on immigration, you'd better to get your act together. You're not going to have Europe anymore." He continued to say that "You've got to stop this horrible invasion that's happening to Europe. Some people, some leaders have not let it happen. They're not getting the proper credit." He did not name the leaders he had in mind, however, in order not to "embarrass" the others. The US President is set to meet with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during his visit, as well as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Von der Leyen had said they would "discuss translatlantic relations", in a week when negotiations have intensified ahead of 1 August, a deadline set by Trump from when he said will impose 30% tariffs on EU imports. EU member states meanwhile approved a llist of countermeasures of their own if no deal is reached. For his part, Trump said on Friday that reaching a deal with the EU on trade would be "the biggest deal of them all if we make it." 'Stop the windmills' The US president also took the opportunity to take aim at wind energy, saying Europe should "stop the windmills, you're ruining your countries... ruining your beautiful fields and valleys, and killing your birds." Trump has on multiple occasions expressed an intense dislike for wind turbines, recently saying "'I don't want windmills destroying our place.' The Trump Organisation, whose assets are currently in a trust run by is children, was ordered to cover the Scottish government's legal costs after the golf course it owns in Aberdeenshire unsuccessfully sued over the construction of a nearby wind farm, arguing in part that it hurt golfers' views. While in Scotland, Trump will visit a golf course in Aberdeenshire ahead of its opening on 13 August, and another near Turnberry. His family owns both golf courses.