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US and Iran Wrangle Over Talks With No End to War in Sight

Source: Bloomberg Business

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Good morning. The US and Iran wrangle over talks with no end to war in sight. Travelers hoping for a drop in long-haul summer airfares face a brutal reality check, and British Airways is proposing a bonus for pilots who burn less fuel. Listen to the day's top stories.

The White House insisted that peace talks with Iran are ongoing, even as Tehran publicly rejected US overtures and issued fresh conditions of its own to end the conflict. Donald Trump claimed Iran was desperate to make a deal. The US deployment of troops to the region is fueling fears that the president is gearing up for exactly the sort of risky ground invasion that he once campaigned against.

BlackRock President Rob Kapito said investors may be underestimating the risks stemming from the war, which are likely to weigh on growth and drive inflation higher even if the conflict ends soon. Stocks and bonds both edged lower and oil climbed.

The Iranian parliament is working on a draft bill that would impose a fee on vessels seeking safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Ticket prices on major routes connecting Asia and Europe have surged up to 560% this month and are likely to stay elevated through the summer on war-related disruptions, according to Alton Aviation. Meanwhile, British Airways is offering pilots a financial incentive to cut their aircraft's fuel consumption.

Italy is set to cut its economic growth forecast to as low as 0.5% for 2026 because of the war, according to people familiar. UK consumer confidence slumped this month to the weakest reading since the British Retail Consortium's tracker began in March 2024 on concerns about a surge in inflation.

Deep Dive: From Autos to Ammo

Slovakia became the world's biggest per capita car producer, alongside the Czech Republic, because of demand from auto companies for cheaper, skilled labor.
Now war is turning the tiny nation into a critical ammunition powerhouse.
The new focus is underpinned by a close alliance between Czech arms billionaire Michal Strnad and Slovakia's influential defense minister, Robert Kalinak.
ZVS is part of Strnad's Czechoslovak Group, or CSG, which he wants to become Europe's biggest defense conglomerate.

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Gold's reputation as the ultimate store of value has been tarnished by its slide since the Iran conflict began, Marcus Ashworth writes. One new market dynamic is that central banks are starting to contemplate using some of their holdings to pay for vastly increased energy and defense expenditure.

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US and Iran Wrangle Over Talks With No End to War in Sight

Deep Dive: From Autos to Ammo

The Big Take

Opinion

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