Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog.
Markets were rocked yesterday by the US’ blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, adding a new layer of tensions to the weeks-long conflict in the Middle East.
Vice-President JD Vance has accused the Iranian government of engaging in an “act of economic terrorism” through its actions regarding the strait, where traffic has remained practically halted since the war began at the end of February.
Vance told Fox News that President Donald Trump was showing “two could play at that game” with the US’ blockade.
The Veep was in Pakistan over the weekend for peace talks, but left after 21 hours as talks broke down.
“The ball is in Iran’s court,” Vance said..
He added that Iran must be flexible and accept the “critical things” the US demands, namely the US control of Iran’s enriched uranium, and a verification method to ensure it does not develop a nuclear weapon.
Elsewhere, Rachel Reeves is heading to Washington today for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) summit.
The IMF will also produce their world economic outlook at 2pm, where the Chancellor could be handed a major blow should the UK face a downgrade.
Stick with us and we will be bringing you the latest on this and more throughout the day.
Here’s a few of our top headlines this morning:
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