Overview
- U.S. forces carried out consecutive nightly strikes, with the military saying it completed an 11th straight night of attacks on Wednesday to degrade Iran-linked threats to commercial shipping.
- Iran told mediators it received a proposal for a temporary 10-day ceasefire and its foreign ministry signaled Tehran could pursue talks if they serve national interests.
- Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement has threatened a naval blockade of Saudi ports and attacked or targeted tankers, forcing some vessels to reverse course in the Red Sea and raising short-term oil supply risks.
- Those shipping and strike developments have driven Brent crude to about $90–$92 a barrel, lifting inflation concerns while investors hope strong earnings from Alphabet, Intel and Tesla will justify the AI-driven rally.
- Global markets reacted unevenly as tech and semiconductor shares rebounded, the yen weakened toward 163 per dollar with Japan warning it may act in currency markets, and analysts said higher oil could influence Fed and other central-bank decisions.