This content was published on

April 30, 2026 – 09:35

(Bloomberg) — Stocks fell as oil’s jump to the highest since the Iran war began added to worries about rising inflation.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index fell 0.5%, dropping for a fifth day in its longest losing streak this year. Nasdaq 100 futures erased an advance of 1.1% that was spurred by robust earnings from megacap companies such as Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. MSCI’s Asia Pacific share index fell 1.3%.

Global benchmark Brent crude oil climbed as much as 7.1% to above $126 a barrel and hit the highest intraday level in four years, before paring the advance. Axios reported that President Donald Trump was slated to receive a briefing Thursday on new plans for potential military action in Iran.

On another busy day of corporate earnings, traders are also focused on European Central Bank and Bank of England interest-rate decisions due later for policymakers’ latest views on the outlook for price pressures stemming from the Middle East conflict.

“The Iran war is hitting energy-hungry Europe harder than other regions,” said Marija Veitmane, head of equity research at State Street Global Markets. “Higher oil prices are pushing up inflation expectations and ECB rate assumptions, making an earnings recovery increasingly unlikely.”

Bloomberg’s gauge of the dollar trimmed a third day of gains. Treasuries steadied after the surge in oil and a hawkish hold by the Federal Reserve drove bonds lower, with 10-year yields holding near the highest since July. Yields on Japan’s 10-year notes rose to the highest since 1997.

From climbing oil prices to a divided Fed keeping rates on hold and impressive megacap tech earnings, traders are grappling with a barrage of whipsawing headlines. The backdrop is testing a global equity rally that has erased war-related losses and pushed US markets to new highs, driven by strong tech results.

“AI is giving markets a structural growth story, but oil is turning geopolitics into a structural inflation risk,” said Charu Chanana, the chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. “With positioning still crowded in parts of tech, the market can no longer rely on earnings strength alone.”

Today’s slate of key events includes the decisions from the ECB and the BOE, whoe are both expected to keep rates unchanged, followed by US economic data.

What Bloomberg Strategists Say…

The cross-asset picture is starting to resemble that seen in March, where stocks and bonds are sliding in unison, while oil and the US dollar shift higher. The action first started to deteriorate after an earlier Axios report that President Trump will consider re-escalating the Middle East conflict.

— Mark Cranfield, MLIV. For full analysis, click here.

Apple Inc. is the marquee earnings event on Thursday after a frenzied Wednesday offered a glimpse at how some of the world’s biggest tech companies are doing in artificial intelligence.

Alphabet rose 7% in post-market trading, while Meta Platforms Inc. dropped 7%. Amazon.com Inc. shares climbed 2.7%, while Microsoft Corp. edged up 0.3%.

The Fed left rates unchanged Wednesday, but revealed a deepening division over the outlook for policy. Traders have all but abandoned wagers on a rate cut this year and began pricing in the chances of a hike in 2027.

Jerome Powell’s press conference was his last at the helm of the central bank after the Justice Department dropped a controversial criminal investigation into the Fed, clearing the way for the Senate confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next chair. Powell said he’ll remain at the central bank as a governor.

The latest gathering revealed a deepening division. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack alongside Minneapolis’ Neel Kashkari and Dallas’ Lorie Logan “supported maintaining the target range for the federal funds rate but did not support inclusion of an easing bias in the statement at this time.” Governor Stephen Miran dissented in favor of a cut.

“The three dissents on the statement’s language point to a marginally more hawkish tilt, as some officials prepare for the possibility that inflation remains higher for longer,” said Angelo Kourkafas at Edward Jones. “We expect the Fed to remain firmly on hold in the months ahead.”

Corporate News:

Societe Generale SA beat estimates for profit as its equities traders rode the market volatility of the first quarter and the French retail unit benefited from lower rates for regulated savings accounts. BNP Paribas SA beat analyst estimates for profit in the first quarter as it joined the equities trading windfall across the industry. Glencore Plc’s oil and gas team made bumper profits as the Iran war roiled global energy markets, with the surge in prices helping to put the firm on course for one of its best-ever trading results. Stellantis NV’s earnings turned positive in the first quarter after the automaker benefited from rising demand in North America for its refreshed Jeep and Ram models. Unilever Plc’s sales grew more than expected at the start of the year as consumers in emerging markets snapped up laundry detergents and Dove soap. Credit Agricole SA’s corporate and investment bank struggled with the market volatility during the first quarter as clients took a wait-and-see attitude, while a key metric of capital strength declined. Puma SE appointed Mark Langer as its new chief financial officer and reported first-quarter earnings that were slightly ahead of estimates as the German sports brand makes progress on its turnaround efforts. Alphabet Inc.’s Google is seeing a clear payoff from its AI spending, while Meta Platforms Inc. is lagging behind. Anthropic PBC began weighing a fresh funding round that would value the AI developer at more than $900 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially leapfrogging its longtime rival OpenAI as the world’s most valuable AI startup. Samsung Electronics Co.’s semiconductor arm brought in historic profit over the March quarter, beating expectations with a 48-fold jump as AI data center orders delivered hefty margins. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.4% as of 8:28 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures were little changed Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.3% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 1.3% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1681 The Japanese yen was little changed at 160.48 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8411 per dollar The British pound was little changed at $1.3487 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $75,845.88 Ether rose 0.5% to $2,251.98 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.42% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.12% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 5.07% Commodities

Brent crude rose 3.5% to $122.15 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.9% to $4,589.36 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Anand Krishnamoorthy.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.