U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during NCAA National Champions Day at the White House in Washington, DC, April 21, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
LONDON — European stock markets opened higher on Wednesday as traders weighed the extension of the ceasefire in Iran and the prospect of new peace negotiations.
American President Donald Trump On Tuesday, the two-week US ceasefire was extended in Iransaying the extension was justified because the government in Tehran was “seriously fractured.”
Trump said the ceasefire, which he earlier announced would end on Wednesday, would continue “until” Iranian leaders and representatives submit a “unified proposal” to end the war with the United States and Israel.
The president’s announcement came after reports of an expected trip by Vice President JD Vance in Pakistan for a second round of peace talks with Iranian officials had been suspended.
Iranian state media outlet Tasnim also reported that Tehran’s negotiators had informed their American counterparts, through an intermediary in Pakistan, that they would not attend further negotiations.
Although the extension of the ceasefire has led to a moderation in oil prices, market confidence has been contained by Trump’s refusal to lift the current US blockade of Iranian ports.
He said in a Truth Social article: “They just say they want [the Strait of Hormuz] closed because I totally BLOCKED it (CLOSED!), so they just want to ‘save face’.”
Trump added that lifting the blockade would mean “there can never be a deal with Iran unless we blow up the rest of their country, including their leaders.”
Back in Europe, the UK’s first inflation report covering the period since the start of the Iran war was published on Wednesday. The country’s inflation rate jumped to 3.3% in March, according to official data, in line with economists’ expectations and up from 3% the previous month. Officials said rising fuel costs have helped drive up prices.
Suren Thiru, chief economist at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said in a note following the release of the data that Trump’s extended ceasefire deadline for Iran “will not prevent a painful period of accelerating inflation with soaring energy costs and food prices likely to push the headline rate above 4% by the fall.”
Return on the benchmark index 10-year UK government bond was last seen down almost 2 basis points at 4.873%. Sterling rose against the US dollar, gaining 0.1% to around $1.35.
Profits are also in the spotlight in Europe on Wednesday with L’Oreal, ABB, EssilorLuxottica, Nordea Bank, Sandvik, Danone, Reckitt Benckiser Group, Swedish hand banks And Crossroads all ready to report.
— Dan Mangan and Kevin Breuninger of CNBC contributed to this market report.
