WS #7684

The dominant narrative remains the de-escalation in US-Iran tensions, with Trump postponing a military strike on Iran following requests from Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar. This has caused oil prices to drop (Brent down 2.11% to $109.70, WTI down 1.27% to $107.28). However, Goldman Sachs warns that renewed Middle East conflict or Hormuz shutdown is the top market risk. Separately, Japan's GDP expanded an annualized 2.1% in Q1, beating estimates, which is positive for Japanese equities but has limited direct US market impact. Nasdaq futures are down 0.5% and S&P 500 futures down 0.25%, indicating risk-off sentiment. The Treasury top lawyer resigned after creation of an 'anti-weaponization fund', which may signal internal Treasury turmoil. Xpeng has begun mass production of robotaxis with its own chips, challenging Tesla's FSD. Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft was dismissed, and he plans to appeal, which is neutral for MSFT but may affect sentiment around AI regulation.