Stocks jittery as Trump eyes Iran ‘grand bargain’

Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog.

Hopes of peace talks in the Middle East were back on the table this morning, though markets weren’t holding there breathe after weeks of bait-and-switches.

Donald Trump described the war with Iran as “close to over” during an interview with Fox news.

“I think it’s close to over, yeah,” he said when asked if the war has ended.

“I view it as very close to over.”

It comes as Vice-President JD Vance told an audience at a Turning Point USA event that negotiators “made a ton of progress” in Pakistan over the weekend. This was despite the US walking out after 21 hours of talks.

Vance said Trump was not looking for a “small deal” with Iran, and instead wants to strike a “Trumpian grand bargain”.

Meanwhile, questions have grown around the US’ blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after shipping data from the BBC showed at leaast four Iran-linked ships, including two that visited Iranian ports, crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

Adm Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command said: “A blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented.”

“In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, US forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea.”

Here’s a few of our top headlines for this morning