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
Euronews
an hour ago
- Euronews
Ateş' warnings against 'Islamisation' dangerous, German imams says
Since demonstrations in Berlin and Düsseldorf turned violent when supporters of Syria's new government clashed with pro-Kurdish demonstrators, discussions surrounding radical Islamism in Germany have been on the rise. At the protests last weekend, people celebrated the wave of attacks on Syria's Druze minority by Bedouin militias, which left hundreds dead, a wave of sectarian violence that threatened to derail post-war Syria's hopes of renewed stability. Around 400 people took part in the protests in Berlin, while 500 participants took to the streets in Düsseldorf, where the rally ended in violence and police officers were injured. The German-Turkish Imam Seyran Ateş criticised the demonstrations in comments to Euronews and issued an urgent warning against radicalism on the streets of Germany. "They were sent to Europe to cause unrest here, to recruit people for their ideology and to work on the grand idea of Islamising Europe," she claimed. Counterpoints by other imams So is Germany really being Islamised by extremists as Ateş claimed? Some of the country's other imams are now speaking out to Euronews, putting forward diverging opinions. Benjamin Idriz, an imam in Penzberg, countered: "I disagree with the insinuation that 'Islam' or 'the Muslims' want to threaten Europe." Anyone who uses the term Islamisation is "stirring up Islamophobia," he emphasised. "I consider Ms Ateş' statements, according to which young Syrians are allegedly being sent here to Islamise Europe, to be dangerous and simply irresponsible;" Idriz told Euronews. Idriz accuses her of adding "fuel to the fire". There are "of course individuals, with or without a migration background, who misuse religious terms" to incite hatred against people of other faiths. "There is no justification for this," he stated. "But identifying such people with a religion or an entire faith is as wrong as it is dangerous," Idriz said. According to Idriz, Islamisation is a "politically charged fighting term" stemming from "right-wing populist contexts" and suggests a "targeted infiltration of Europe by Islam". This is a narrative that is "close to conspiracy ideologies" and anyone using it is fuelling Islamophobia, he said. No connection with Islam, Berlin imam says Berlin imam Sharjil Khalid was also outraged. "The main function of these self-proclaimed Islam experts seems to be to make simplified general judgements," he told Euronews. This can be seen in the "decontextualised use" of Islamisation. The term is "increasingly being used in a populist way ... without regard for context or differentiation. This was also the case with the protests in Berlin and Düsseldorf." Khalid sees an ethnic conflict rather than one with Islam at its core. "Why is Ms Ateş suddenly linking these demonstrations, which were clearly about an ethnic conflict between Druze and Syrians, to Islam?" "We know that many people who read about Islam are hardly religiously educated. This was also the case with extremist groups such as Al-Qaeda or (the self-described) Islamic State (group)." "Reports have shown that many members had hardly any Islamic knowledge, and a large number were even illiterate. Despite this, a direct connection to Islam is repeatedly made across the board," he said. "What we are seeing in these riots is not an expression of Islam," emphasises Khalid, but "the result of profound ethnic and geopolitical problems". Any incitement to violence should be firmly rejected. "As an imam and Islamic theologian, I would like to remind you of a central tradition of the Holy Prophet Muhammad: 'A Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand people are safe.'" Outrage from Austria Ateş's warnings have made waves beyond Germany's borders. "With all due respect to the professional successes achieved by native German-Turks, but fear-mongering conspiracy theories such as 'The Islamists were sent to Islamise Europe' are less useful here," Austrian-Turkish political analyst Ercan Karaduman told Euronews. Karaduman has already appeared with Ateş on the "Talk im Hanger-7" show to discuss the subject. "I can't understand why people who think differently are subjected to death threats. Muslims shouldn't be allowed to do that either," he said, speaking about the death threats against Ateş. It can be observed how the "Taliban in Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda with 9/11, Daesh terror in Syria, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Iran and its offshoots in Lebanon are forming generalised opinions about all Muslims and Islam in European societies," he said. Daesh is another term used for the so-called IS group by Arabic speakers to disempower it. Karaduman finds this unjustified. "This even creates blanket judgements about Muslims who have lived in NRW for generations and are even more German than the Germans," he explained. With regard to the radical protests in Berlin and Düsseldorf, he believes it would do no good to see "Islam as the source of the problem". "We need to focus on professional extremism prevention," says the Austrian political analyst with Turkish roots. Who is the 'liberal' imam Seyran Ateş? Ateş founded the first and so far only liberal mosque in Germany in 2017, where women and men have equal rights and Muslims of all sexual orientations can practise their religion openly. The feminist and lawyer was brought up in a conservative family and is fighting to reform Islam. The Ibn Rushd Goethe Mosque, which she founded in 2017, had to close temporarily last year due to an Islamist attack plot. Ateş has been under police protection for almost 18 years, but continues to campaign for gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. Many in the Muslim world see this as a provocation. Egyptian religious leaders have issued a fatwa — a religious ruling — declaring prayers in her mosque "not valid". The price for her fight to establish a centre for liberal Islam has come in the shape of death threats, police protection and further pressure on her wellbeing. Ateş has already withdrawn from public life several times.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Talking Europe: Highlights from the 2024-2025 season
Europe 12:43 From the show Reading time 1 min As this political season draws to a close, we bring you a showcase of our interviews with Europe's movers and shakers. They broach the top issues that have dominated the agenda over the past year, from competitiveness and simplification to corporate responsibility; from disinformation to "Choose Europe" for research and innovation; and, of course, the big geopolitical topics such as Ukraine and the Trump presidency.
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
No evidence Hamas stole Gaza humanitarian aid, USAID report shows
An internal US government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by the Palestinian militant group Hamas of US-funded humanitarian supplies, challenging the main rationale that Israel and the US give for backing a new armed private aid operation. The analysis, which has not been previously reported, was conducted by a bureau within the US Agency for International Development and completed in late June. It examined 156 incidents of theft or loss of US-funded supplies reported by US aid partner organizations between October 2023 and this May. It found 'no reports alleging Hamas' benefited from US-funded supplies, according to a slide presentation of the findings. A State Department spokesperson disputed the findings, saying there is video evidence of Hamas looting aid, but provided no such videos. The spokesperson also accused traditional humanitarian groups of covering up "aid corruption." The findings were shared with the USAID's inspector general's office and State Department officials involved in Middle East policy, said two sources familiar with the matter, and come as dire food shortages deepen in the devastated enclave. Israel says it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas, which it blames for the crisis. The UN World Food Program says nearly a quarter of Gaza's 2.1 million Palestinians face famine-like conditions, thousands are suffering acute malnutrition, and the World Health Organization and doctors in the enclave report starvation deaths of children and others. 01:40 The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food supplies, the majority near the militarized distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the new private aid group that uses a for-profit US logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed US military veterans. The study was conducted by the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) of USAID, which was the largest funder of assistance to Gaza before the Trump administration froze all US foreign aid in January, terminating thousands of programs. It has also begun dismantling USAID, whose functions have been folded into the State Department. The analysis found that at least 44 of the 156 incidents where aid supplies were reported stolen or lost were 'either directly or indirectly' due to Israeli military actions, according to the briefing slides. Israel's military did not respond to questions about those findings. The study noted a limitation: because Palestinians who receive aid cannot be vetted, it was possible that US-funded supplies went to administrative officials of Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza. One source familiar with the study also cautioned that the absence of reports of widespread aid diversion by Hamas 'does not mean that diversion has not occurred.' The war in Gaza began after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli assault began, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel says Hamas diverts humanitarian aid Israel, which controls access to Gaza, has said that Hamas steals food supplies from UN and other organizations to use to control the civilian population and boost its finances, including by jacking up the prices of the goods and reselling them to civilians. Asked about the USAID report, the Israeli military said that its allegations are based on intelligence reports that Hamas militants seized cargoes by "both covertly and overtly" embedding themselves on aid trucks. Those reports also show that Hamas has diverted up to 25% of aid supplies to its fighters or sold them to civilians, the Israeli military said, adding that GHF has ended the militants' control of aid by distributing it directly to civilians. Hamas denies the allegations. A Hamas security official said that Israel has killed more than 800 Hamas-affiliated police and security guards trying to protect aid vehicles and convoy routes. Their missions were coordinated with the UN. FRANCE 24 could not independently verify the claims by Hamas and Israel, which has not made public proof that the militants have systematically stolen aid. GHF also accuses Hamas of massive aid theft in defending its distribution model. The UN and other groups have rejected calls by GHF, Israel and the US to cooperate with the foundation, saying it violates international humanitarian principles of neutrality. In response to a request for comment, GHF referred to a July 2 Washington Post article that quoted an unidentified Gazan and anonymous Israeli officials as saying Hamas profited from the sales and taxing of pilfered humanitarian aid. Aid groups required to report losses The 156 reports of theft or losses of supplies reviewed by BHA were filed by UN agencies and other humanitarian groups working in Gaza as a condition of receiving U.S. aid funds. The second source familiar with the matter said that after receiving reports of U.S.-funded aid thefts or losses, USAID staff followed up with partner organizations to try to determine if there was Hamas involvement. Those organizations also would "redirect or pause" aid distributions if they learned that Hamas was in the vicinity, the source said. Aid organizations working in Gaza also are required to vet their personnel, sub-contractors and suppliers for ties to extremist groups before receiving U.S. funds, a condition that the State Department waived in approving $30 million for GHF last month. The slide presentation noted that USAID partners tended to over-report aid diversion and theft by groups sanctioned or designated by the US as foreign terrorist organizations - such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad - because they want to avoid losing US funding. Of the 156 incidents of loss or theft reported, 63 were attributed to unknown perpetrators, 35 to armed actors, 25 to unarmed people, 11 directly to Israeli military action, 11 to corrupt subcontractors, five to aid group personnel 'engaging in corrupt activities,' and six to 'others," a category that accounted for 'commodities stolen in unknown circumstances,' according to the slide presentation. The armed actors 'included gangs and other miscellaneous individuals who may have had weapons,' said a slide. Another slide said "a review of all 156 incidents found no affiliations with" U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations, of which Hamas is one. 'The majority of incidents could not be definitively attributed to a specific actor,' said another slide. 'Partners often largely discovered the commodities had been stolen in transit without identifying the perpetrator.' It is possible there were classified intelligence reports on Hamas aid thefts, but BHA staff lost access to classified systems in the dismantlement of USAID, said a slide. However, a source familiar with US intelligence assessments said that they knew of no US intelligence reports detailing Hamas aid diversions and that Washington was relying on Israeli reports. The BHA analysis found that the Israeli military 'directly or indirectly caused' a total of 44 incidents in which US-funded aid was lost or stolen. Those included the 11 attributed to direct Israeli military actions, such as airstrikes or orders to Palestinians to evacuate areas of the war-torn enclave. Losses indirectly attributed to Israeli military included cases where they compelled aid groups to use delivery routes with high risks of theft or looting, ignoring requests for alternative routes, the analysis said.
