Trump: Iran Talks in Pakistan Could Happen in Days

Former President Donald Trump told reporters that talks with Iran “could be happening over next two days” and mentioned the possibility of a second meeting in Pakistan. He spoke positively about the contours of a potential agreement.

Reports indicated Iran was not testing the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and was weighing a temporary pause to its own Hormuz shipping to avoid disrupting negotiations. Lebanon’s ambassador described a preliminary meeting with Israel as “good.”

Markets moved after the comments. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $6.84 to $92.24 a barrel. The S&P 500 gained 1.2%, and other equity benchmarks climbed. The New Zealand dollar led major currencies while the U.S. dollar was broadly weaker. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield declined about 4.9 basis points to 4.248%. Gold rose roughly $101 to $4,840 per ounce.

Economic releases and policy comments provided additional context for traders. U.S. March producer price index final demand rose 4.0% year-over-year, below the 4.7% forecast. The International Monetary Fund trimmed its 2026 global GDP growth projection to 3.1% from 3.3%.

At the European Central Bank, President Christine Lagarde said policymakers are “between the baseline and adverse scenarios,” and ECB markets chief Gabriel Makhlouf said he was “not yet seeing changes in consumer behaviour from higher inflation.” Policy strategist Bessent noted the planned 10% tariff on certain imports has not been raised to 15% “at this time.”

Traders attributed the price moves to the string of diplomatic signals and the softer-than-expected producer price data, which coincided with the market rally in equities and the decline in oil.