US & Iran Weigh More Talks; China Says World Order ‘Crumbling’

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1:25Do that. Do that. Do that with Acrobat. Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat. Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts. Radio. News. Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Alexis Christophorus. Here are the stories we're following today. Alexis, we begin with the latest developments in the war in the Middle East. The U.S. and Iran are considering a second round of talks before their two-week ceasefire ends next week. Reuters is reporting negotiating teams from both sides could return to Islamabad this week. Vice President J.D. Vance led the discussions that broke down over the weekend.

2:07He was asked on Fox News about the prospect of a second round. Are there more talks coming? Do they happen in Pakistan? And are you leading them? Well, it's an interesting question, Brett. And I think fundamentally it's a question that would be best put to the Iranians because the ball really is in their court. We've made clear where we're willing, again, to be accommodating. And we've made clear where we absolutely need to see the nuclear material come out of the country of Iran. Vice President J.D. Vance spoke with Fox's Brett Baer as President Trump presses ahead with a naval blockade on Iran.

2:38Bloomberg's owner Ant has more from Dubai. The blockade is aimed at intercepting or stopping any oil or other vessels going into or out of the Persian Gulf if one of their destinations is Iran. So in theory, it should bring to nearly zero what was already a trickle of regular traffic through the Strait of whole Muslims. Bloomberg's owner, Ant, reports a sanctioned vessel linked to China is testing the blockade. A medium-range tanker named Rich Stari is trying to exit the Strait for the second time in less than 24 hours. And Nathan, Chinese President Xi Jinping is making his first remarks on the Iran war since the U.S.

3:20and Israel began attacks more than a month ago. She is vowing to play a constructive role in the Middle East. At a meeting with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, she said that peace must be prioritized. Both China and Spain are principled and moral countries, both willing to stand on the right side of history. We should strengthen communication, consolidate mutual trust, cooperate closely, oppose the world's regression to the law of the jungle, and jointly safeguard genuine multilateralism and global peace and development. Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking there through an interpreter, described the international order as, quote, crumbling into disarray.

4:02Well, with the war underway, Alexis, President Trump has been feuding with Pope Leo XIV. That has led to a controversy on social media. The president posted an AI-generated image that seemed to depict him as a Christ-like figure healing a sick patient. He has since deleted that photo, but he says it wasn't an accident. I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor, and it had to do with Red Cross as a Red Cross worker there, which we support. And only the fake news could come up with that one. President Trump called Publio weak on crime after the pontiff spoke out against the war. The president didn't explain why he deleted the post, but it did spark a backlash, including from some of his supporters.

4:43Vice President Vance told Fox News the president took it down because people didn't understand his humor. A couple of departures from Congress on both sides of the aisle. Democrat Eric Swalwell and Republican Tony Gonzalez said they plan on leaving their seats in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct. Swalwell announced his intent to resign, saying he must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes he did make while also vowing to fight the serious false allegations made against him. Gonzalez said he planned on filing his retirement from office after allegations that he had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.

5:18Okay, let's turn to the markets now, Alexis. Futures are indicating the recent Wall Street rally has legs. Right now, S &P futures are up three-tenths of one percent or 19 points. The S &P 500 index has now erased all its losses since the start of the war. Max Wasserman is senior portfolio manager at Miramar Capital. Every word the president says, the market makes a move, right? And it seems to want to discount any potential negativity towards the positive uptrend. So to me, this market is basically discounting nothing negative and is extremely optimistic. Miramar Capital's Max Wasserman, the S &P 500 had fallen almost 8 % since the war.

6:00Meanwhile, West Texas intermediate oil prices climbed 51 % in March. And checking crude this morning, it's pulling back a bit with WTI crude down about two and a half percent at$96.58 per barrel, while Brent is down 1.1 percent at$98.27. And Nathan, we are seeing more effects of the war. The International Energy Agency says global oil demand will decline this year for the first time since the 2020 pandemic. The IEA says the war has triggered the biggest supply disruption in history because oil flows through the Persian Gulf's vital Strait of Hormuz have been choked off. And in company news, we've got shares of American Airlines up more than 4 % here in early trading.

6:40Sources tell Bloomberg United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has floated a possible combination with American Airlines. A combination of United and American would create the largest airline and pose serious antitrust concerns. It would likely face significant backlash from consumers, politicians, and rival U.S. airlines. We're also watching shares of Globalstar this morning, Alexis. They're up more than 15%. Bloomberg News has learned Amazon's in advance talks to acquire the satellite operator. as it builds out its low-Earth orbit network in a bid to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX. Its fast-growing Starlink unit has more than 10 million active customers and about 10 ,000 satellites in orbit.

7:22Time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. For that, we're joined by Bloomberg's John Tucker. Good morning, John. Good morning, Alexis. Members of a congressional panel are set to meet with Pentagon officials tonight. They'll discuss the Trump administration's request to supercharge military spending. The Office of Management and Budget has asked that$350 billion go through the budget reconciliation process, which allows the Senate to bypass the filibuster. The federal government has agreed the rainbow pride flag can fly at the Stonewall National Monument in Manhattan.

7:57That story from Bloomberg's Charlie Pellett. It's a course reversal after removing the flag in February. The government revealed the decision in court papers as it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ +, and historic preservation groups who had sought to block the removal. Lawyers for the government and the groups wrote in a joint court filing that the Interior Department and National Park Service have confirmed their intention to maintain a pride flag at Stonewall. In New York, Charlie Pellett, Bloomberg Radio. And prosecutors have filed attempted murder and other criminal charges against a man for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman.

8:40No one was injured in the attack. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney secured a majority government after his Liberal Party won three key special elections. It gives his administration the ability to push ahead faster with an economic agenda centered on expanding energy exports and reducing Canada's reliance on the U.S.

9:02The 2026 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced, and among them, Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Iron Maiden, and Oasis. This is going to be Collins' second induction into the Hall of Fame. He was previously inducted in 2010 as a member of Genesis. Global News, 24 hours a day, whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm John Tucker. This is Bloomberg. Alexis. Thanks, John. Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update. and for that we bring in John Stashauer. A wild baseball game in New York, a game where Mike Trout, Trent Grisham, and Aaron Judge all homered twice. The Yankees scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and beat the Angels 11-10.

9:40They held the WNBA draft and the Dallas Wings with the first pick overall took UConn guard AZ Fudd. UCLA, who just won the national championship, saw five players get drafted in the first round. The NBA play-in games beginning tonight with Miami at Charlotte, Portland at Phoenix. That's your Bloomberg Sports Update. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this.

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12:20Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM, and around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business app. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. Markets and the world are holding out for the prospect of a second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran, even with a blockade aimed at Tehran's oil exports underway. President Trump says his goal is clear. We can't let a country blackmail or extort the world because that's what they're doing. They're really blackmailing the world. We're not going to let that happen. And that was President Trump at the White House yesterday.

12:55Joining us this morning from Dubai is Bloomberg Middle East correspondent Jumana Bersechi, the anchor of Bloomberg Horizons. Jumana, what is the prospect of a second round of negotiations as the Strait of Hormuz apparently is under blockade? Good morning. Yeah, good morning. Well, there is plenty of reporting overnight suggesting that there has been good momentum or progress towards moving toward a second round of negotiations. Even our own colleagues at Bloomberg are saying that we have heard from various sources that there is appetite to do another round of talks. And of course, you have to remember that the clock is ticking because the ceasefire does, in theory, expire on April 21st.

13:34So the idea would be to have another round of talks before the ceasefire comes to an end. President Trump himself yesterday said that he'd received a call from the Iranians, from the right people, he said. and he cited them as wanting to make a deal. We also heard from the Iranian president overnight who said that they are willing to continue with negotiations so long as it's done within a quote-unquote international framework. So yes, there is definitely momentum. Whether again, you know, this time the two sides can meet with the view of actually achieving a breakthrough because they still seem to be pretty far apart from the last round of negotiations is up for debate.

14:12But certainly it comes as a relief, I would say, to the region, to the world, that there is positive momentum on the diplomatic channel. We did see the breakdown of talks in Islamabad over the weekend, led by Vice President J.D. Vance. He was on Fox News last night talking about the prospect of another round. What is our sense of where the two sides stand now in terms of what they are looking for from each other? Yeah, well, you remember when we were discussing a couple of weeks ago about the various proposals that the US were putting forward, the 10-point proposal versus the 15-point proposal and how far apart the two were.

14:48I think now what we can say is it's been condensed to a matter of a couple of topics. And those topics, from what we understand from our reporting, from our sourcing, really boil down to the straight, which is why President Trump introduced their own version of a blockade yesterday in the late hours of the afternoon. So far, it seems to be uneventful. And the second point is, again, the very nexus of all of this, which is Iran's nuclear ambitions. And just to refer back to J.D. Vance, because you quoted him now, the day he left Islamabad, he said quite clearly that they did not receive sufficient assurances from Iran that not only would they not go on to develop a nuclear bomb, that they don't have the ambition to do so, but that also that they would relinquish the tools that would allow them to develop a nuclear bomb.

15:38So it's not just about the ambition, but it's also the tools as well, i.e. their centrifuges and, of course, that 400 kilo plus pile of enriched uranium that they're sitting on. So you have to imagine that from the U.S.'s perspective, if they want to get this deal over the line, there has to be some form of retrieving that enriched stockpile alongside assurances from Iran that they will keep their enrichment at low levels or at no levels. And in return, Iran are going to be pushing very aggressively for a win that they can present back home, which would probably include sanctions relief. This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond.

16:18Look for us on your podcast feed by 6 a.m. Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify or anywhere else you listen. You can also listen live each morning starting at 5 a.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg 1130 in New York, Bloomberg 99.1 in Washington, Bloomberg 92.9 in Boston and nationwide on Sirius XM channel 121. Plus, listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app, now with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces. And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long.

16:54I'm Alexis Christophorus. And I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.

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