A protester waves an Iranian flag and shouts slogans during a demonstration against US military action in Iran near the White House in Washington, DC, on April 7, 2026.<\/p>\n
Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd writing to you from London. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open. <\/p>\n
Not only has the S&P 500 erased all its declines since the onset of the Iran war, it is now nearing an all-time high. <\/p>\n
The back-to-back gains for equities in major markets come amid growing optimism that another round of talks between the U.S. and Iran could yield more progress towards a long-term peace agreement. <\/p>\n
Investors’ attention is now divided between geopolitical developments and earnings season, which accelerates on both sides of the Atlantic this week.<\/p>\n
What you need to know today<\/p>\n The U.S. blockade of Iranian ports<\/a> has now come\u00a0fully into effect<\/a>, “completely” cutting off Tehran’s international sea trade that powers about 90% of its economy, the U.S. Central Command said late Tuesday stateside.<\/p>\n The announcement comes at a time when the White House has been signaling a diplomatic solution to the conflict in the Middle East, as\u00a0continuing negotiations\u00a0with Tehran<\/a> remain under discussion.<\/p>\n The S&P 500 neared record highs<\/a> on optimism around those upcoming talks, while Asia-Pacific markets traded higher<\/a> Wednesday, tracking overnight gains in U.S. stocks.<\/p>\n There are some interesting trends elsewhere, with gold’s pullback exposing a rare shift in the market<\/a>: after years of relentless accumulation, some central banks are now selling bullion as Iran war-driven pressures force a scramble for cash.<\/p>\n The world’s leading finance ministers and central bank governors are in Washington, D.C. for the IMF\/World Bank spring meetings, with the impact of the war in Iran topping the agenda. <\/p>\n Pakistan’s Finance Minister told CNBC that “diplomacy is a process, not an event”<\/a> following the failed talks in Pakistani capital Islamabad last weekend, while IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas warned the war was causing “significant downgrades”<\/a> to international growth forecasts. <\/p>\n The U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is not only squeezing Iran but also ratcheting up pressure on two of its most consequential relationships in Asia <\/a>\u2014 India and China.<\/p>\n With roughly 98% of Iranian oil exports bound for China, and a summit between\u00a0President Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Chinese leader Xi Jinping<\/a>\u00a0weeks away, Washington’s maximum-pressure campaign on Iran risks destabilizing the fragile detente that the administration has carefully cultivated with Beijing.<\/p>\n India, with its\u00a0complicated ties<\/a>\u00a0with the U.S., is increasingly finding U.S. policy at odds with\u00a0its economic interests<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 most acutely in the energy shock now rippling through its economy.<\/p>\n In corporate news, European chip manufacturing giant ASML<\/a> has topped first quarter revenue expectations<\/a>, with sales topping 8.8 billion euros. In the U.S., Bank of America<\/a> and Morgan Stanley<\/a> will lead the earnings releases on Wall Street<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u2014 Leonie Kidd<\/p>\n And finally…<\/p>\n Crypto exchange Kraken confirms it has confidentially filed for an IPO<\/a><\/p>\n Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi reiterated Tuesday that the crypto exchange has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering.<\/p>\n In November 2025, CNBC\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0Kraken was planning its debut. Separately,\u00a0Kraken said<\/a>\u00a0in a blog post at the time that it had submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but that it didn’t yet know when the offering would occur.<\/p>\n Less than a month ago, Kraken\u00a0reportedly froze its IPO plans<\/a>\u00a0amid a crypto winter that pushed the price of bitcoin to 40% below its October record. The flagship cryptocurrency has been climbing higher in recent weeks.<\/p>\n \u2014 Tanaya Macheel<\/p>\n