Headlines:

• Mission accomplished? Markets eagerly waiting on US president Trump’s address later
• Crude oil comes under renewed pressure amid US-Iran deal optimism; upside risks remain
• Dollar falls across the board as the risk mood picks up in anticipation of Trump’s address
• IEA chief warns that oil loss in April is expected to double that of March
• BOJ policymaker Asada: How to deal with stagflation is a hard question for monetary policy
• Eurozone March final manufacturing PMI 51.6 vs 51.4 prelim
• UK March final manufacturing PMI 51.0 vs 51.4 prelim

Markets:

• WTI crude oil down nearly 3% to $98.63
• US dollar lower across the board
• Major indices in Europe post gains well over 2%; S&P 500 futures up 0.9%
• US 10-year yields drop 3 bps to 4.28%
• Gold up 1.8% to $4,752
• Bitcoin up 0.5% to $68,506

It was quite a straightforward session as markets are mainly waiting on US president Trump’s address to the nation later today. It will come after the US market close, with it scheduled for 0100 GMT. Trump is set to deliver “important updates” on Iran and the expectation is that he will signal the beginning of the end to the war.

As such, we’re seeing optimism flow across broader markets in European trading.

Major indices in Europe are posting solid gains in following up Wall Street yesterday. The DAX is up 2.7% and CAC 40 up 2.1% on the day. Meanwhile, the IBEX is up 3.1% and FTSE MIB up 3.3% currently.

This comes as US futures are also looking buoyed with S&P 500 futures up 0.9% on the day.

In the oil market, we are seeing WTI crude drop nearly 3% to $98.63 after some pushing and pulling around the $100 mark.

As for major currencies, there was a broad retreat for the US dollar. The greenback is lower across the board with EUR/USD nudging up by 0.5% to above 1.1600 and AUD/USD climbing by 0.8% to 0.6955.

In other markets, it was more of the same as we see more positive sentiment take hold. 10-year Treasury yields are down 3 bps to 4.28% while gold is up 1.8% on the day to $4,752.

All eyes are on Trump now.

This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.