U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the NCAA Collegiate National Champions Day ceremony at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 21, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
LONDON – European stocks opened higher on Wednesday as traders weighed the extension of the Iran moratorium and the prospect of continued peace talks.
Immediately after the opening bell, the pan-European The Stoxx 600 it was about 0.2% higher, with many sectors and large regional banks in good positions. in London FTSE 100 apartment for sale.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended the US ceasefire agreement with Iran by two weeks, saying the extension was authorized because the government in Tehran is “seriously broken.”
Trump said the ceasefire, which he had previously said would end on Wednesday, would last “until such time” as Iran’s leaders and representatives present a “joint proposal” to end the war with the US and Israel.
The President’s announcement came after reports that an expected trip by Vice President JD Vance to Pakistan for the second round of peace talks with Iranian officials has been put on hold.
The Iranian newspaper Tasnim also reported that negotiators from Tehran informed their US counterparts through a spokesman in Pakistan that they would not appear to continue the talks.
While the extension of the ceasefire sent oil prices lower, market sentiment was kept steady by Trump’s refusal to lift the ongoing US embargo on Iranian ports.
He said in a Truth Social post: “They say they only want [the Strait of Hormuz] it’s closed because I’m totally BLOCKED (CLOSED!), so they want to ‘save face.'”
Trump added that lifting the blockade would mean “there will never be a deal with Iran, unless we blow up their entire country, including their leaders.”
Back in Europe, the first print of UK inflation covering the period since the start of the Iran war was released on Wednesday. The country’s inflation rate rose to 3.3% in March, according to official data, in line with economists’ expectations and up from 3% last month. Officials said the rise in petrol has helped drive up prices.
Suren Thiru, chief economist at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, in a statement following the release of the data that the deadline extended by Trump to end hostilities in Iran “will not prevent a painful period of accelerating inflation with rising energy costs and food prices that are likely to increase the headline rate above 4% in the fall.”
Benchmark yield A 10-year UK government bond it was last seen trading almost 2 points lower at 4.873%. Sterling bought higher against the US dollar, gaining 0.1% to reach around $1.35.
Profits are also concentrated in Europe on Wednesday with L’Oreal, ABB, EssilorLuxottica, Nordea Bank, Sandvik, Danone, Reckitt Benckiser Group, Svenska Handelsbanken again Carrefour everything is set to report.
– CNBC’s Dan Mangan and Kevin Breuninger contributed to this market report.
