Taken from CNBC’s Daily Open, our international markets newsletter — Subscribe today
Hello, this is Katie Foley writing to you from London, on the last trading day of April.
Markets are not waiting for the calendar to tick over to lean into the 'sell in May' adage, with crude prices surging and stocks sinking this morning.
Over the month, we've seen a fragile Iran ceasefire negotiated, and then extended - facing multiple cliff-edge moments dictated by the U.S. President's Truth Social account. We've seen the first national inflation and growth prints impacted by spiralling energy prices, and early signs of knock-on effects to corporate earnings.
Throughout it all markets have been buoyant, but is that about to end?
What you need to know today
Brent crude has hit a wartime high and is climbing fast. Axios reporting suggests the U.S. military will brief President Donald Trump on potential action against Iran today, raising worries that armed conflict could resume.
Asian markets are lower across the board with futures pointing to similar losses in the U.S. and Europe. Despite the likely down day today, markets have spent the month scaling fresh record highs. The S&P 500 is still on pace for its best month since 2020.
The Bank of England and European Central Bank have rate decisions today, with economists predicting policymakers will look through the noise around inflation spikes and keep rates on hold for longer at 2% for the ECB and 3.75% for the BOE.
The Fed held rates steady, but with highest level of dissent since 1992, while the Senate Banking Committee advanced Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair in a party-line vote.
Bank earnings are still coming thick and fast - Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale all beat profit expectations. German delivery giant DHL also topped forecasts.
— Katie Foley
And finally...
Nvidia just invested in the AI legal startup that's splashing Jude Law ads everywhere
Nvidia's venture arm, NVentures, has invested in Swedish AI legal tech Legora at a $5.6 billion valuation, as the chip giant continues to ramp up startup funding across the globe.
Legora on Thursday exclusively told CNBC that Nvidia had backed it as part of a $50 million extension of its Series D, which brought the total amount to $600 million following a first close in March. The extension also saw Atlassian, Adams Street Partners and Insight participate.
Investors have been piling into promising young AI companies as they bet big on the commercial potential of tech to reshape entire industries and bring big efficiency gains.
— Kai Nicol-Schwarz
