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Iran Nuclear Deal Decision Dominates Market Session

 

Trump Drops US Support for the Iran Accord

This afternoon President Trump took center stage in global markets as he announced that the US would be withdrawing from the international Iran nuclear agreement struck in 2015, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.  Trump labeled the accord as “defective at its core”, while explaining that the US and its allies had “definitive proof that this Iranian promise was a lie”.  The decision drew mixed responses from nations around the world, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quick to praise the move while officials from Britain, Germany and France issued a joint statement which labeled the action as a cause for “regret and concern.”  Iranian officials [unsurprisingly] expressed their discontent with the announcement and denied the allegations made by Trump, threatening retaliation against the US and ruling out the possibility for a restructuring of the deal.  With the immediate reinstatement of the US sanctions against Iran, financial deals with Tehran are now banned and any existing relationships within the nation need to be unwound within the next 90 to 180 days.  It remains unclear whether the purchasing of oil from Iran will be considered a “financial deal”.

 

 

Financial Markets Fluctuate with Iran Decision

US stocks failed to find steady footing during today’s session, as all three major indices whipsawed around the release of the Iran sanctioning decision before ultimately finishing near unchanged.  Treasurys experienced a mild selloff and yields/swap rates climbed 1-3bps across curve, bringing the yield on the 10-year note to just below 2.98% – its highest level in almost a week.  The US dollar climbed 0.3% against major currencies to its highest levels of the year as investors favored haven assets in the wake of the Iran uncertainty and swelling political concerns in Italy.  In energy markets, crude oil futures halted their one-week rally, with WTI crude closing more than 1% lower for the session to $69.75/barrel. 

 

 

Job Openings at Record High

The Labor Department’s JOLTS report headlined an otherwise light day of economic releases.  Job openings during March surged by 472,000 to a seasonally adjusted pace of 6.55 million – the highest level since the collection of the data began in December 2000.  The number of hirings totaled 5.425 million, pushing the gap between openings and hires to its widest on record and indicating a mismatch between employer requirements and applicant skillsets.  Openings in professional and business services displayed the greatest increase (+112,000), followed by the construction industry which posted 68,000 additional roles.  Also detailed in the report, the quits rate, an often-referenced measure of confidence in the jobs market, rose a steady 2.3% as 100,000 more Americans quit their job during March vs February.

 

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