Stocks declined and oil rose as optimism over the US-Iran ceasefire faded after Tehran said several terms of the agreement had been breached, highlighting lingering uncertainty in markets. Stock futures for Wall Street and European benchmarks fell 0.2 per cent, indicating a four-day run of gains for global stocks is primed to end. Government bonds in Japan and Australia also retreated on concern higher oil prices will fan inflation. Asian technology stocks followed US peers lower after Meta Platforms Inc. unveiled a new artificial intelligence model and Anthropic launched Claude tools for building agents. Sporadic fighting continued throughout the Middle East, including in Lebanon, where Israel continued its campaign against the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia.

Source: The Irish Times April 09, 2026 14:09 UTC