Oil eases on Iran talk, and Wall Street closes at a record

Records and a deal being circulated

The Dow closed at a record on Tuesday, with the Guardian tying the advance to a run of AI-related profits and to oil prices coming off the boil. American equity benchmarks have been climbing through earnings season, and the day's move added another high-water mark.

The reason oil softened was political. City A.M. reported that a US-Iran deal was described as "being circulated", and that expectation was enough to send crude lower and to lift London stocks in early trade on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal recorded the same current running through the bond market, where Treasury yields fell on hopes for an Iran agreement.

Not every signal pointed the same way. A manufacturing survey reported by CNBC found inflation worries described as "worse than pandemic era", which the outlet framed as adding to pressure on the Federal Reserve. City A.M. separately asked how patient the Bank of England can afford to be. The two pieces sit alongside the equity records rather than neatly with them.

A crowded morning of earnings

BP dominated the corporate tape. The BBC put its profit at $5.7bn, the highest since 2022, and attributed the strength to oil prices lifted by the Iran war. This is Money reported profits more than doubling, while noting the chief executive's remark that the company is still "not making the most of its potential". Sky News made the same point in blunter terms, and This is Money also reported BP putting its £3bn US biogas business up for sale as it continues to shed green assets while oil profits surge. The Guardian widened the lens, revealing that major oil firms made $93bn in combined profits amid war and climate crisis.

HSBC was the other big number. The bank posted sharply higher quarterly profit and set out a $1bn share buyback, according to the Wall Street Journal. This is Money put the profit jump at 23%, crediting higher net interest margins, and Euronews described the buyback as a major plan.

SpaceX filed its first earnings report since the IPO crash. The Guardian reported that the company beat revenue expectations, a debut result watched closely after the listing's rough start. Spotify, by contrast, predicted weaker-than-expected user growth as profits took a knock from spending on marketing and AI, This is Money reported.

Chip investors proved a difficult audience. The Wall Street Journal wrote that even big profits are not enough to keep them happy, a mood that runs against the AI enthusiasm credited with lifting the wider indices.

Yen, Asia and a run of takeovers

The yen remained the currency story. The Wall Street Journal reported that investors are still sceptical after US intervention, while Alex Brummer in This is Money cast Treasury figure Bessant as the poacher of 1992 turned gamekeeper, rescuing the currency he once bet against. In Asian trade the Nikkei rose 2.3%, led by electronics stocks, according to the Journal.

Mainland China told a more cautious tale. The South China Morning Post reported a drop in new A-share and margin-trading accounts amid a tech sell-off, and a separate piece described Chinese investors seeking a haven in the Hang Seng Index during AI tumult. China's sovereign bond sale in Hong Kong, meanwhile, drew global interest and raised over $2bn.

London kept its takeover run going. This is Money reported that Segro became the fifth FTSE 100 firm to confirm a foreign takeover, part of a £14bn deal. Hugo Boss reported better-than-expected profits while fending off a takeover swoop from Mike Ashley. And Sky News reported that Permira is plotting a £700m bid for the upmarket gyms operator Third Space. The bid activity kept coming even as the headline indices set records elsewhere.