And Aussie PM Albanese pushes public transport use.
Ata mārie and welcome to your summary of international business and political news from overnight.
First up, global sharemarkets have risen after US President Donald Trump signalled the war in Iran could end in a matter of weeks, the Guardian said.
Earlier, the UK’s FTSE 100 gained about 2% to hit a two-week high. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index also rose 2%, with gains recorded elsewhere in Europe. Japan’s Nikkei jumped by 5%.
“Now we’re finishing the job. I think in two weeks or maybe a few days longer, we’ll do the job. We want to knock out everything they’ve got,” Trump said.
US President Donald Trump.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reportedly said Iran could be willing to end the conflict, but only if there were strict guarantees.
Brent crude oil fell below US$100 per barrel, having traded as high as US$118 a barrel yesterday.
Trump is set to give a national address on the war at about 2pm NZT, ahead of which he has said the US was "strongly considering pulling out of Nato".
Qatar Energy said a fuel oil tanker the company leased had been "the subject of a missile attack" this week. It said none of the crew members on board had been injured and there was no environmental impact, the BBC reported.
Qatar's Ministry of Defence said Iran had fired three cruise missiles, two of which were intercepted while the third hit the tanker.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that Trump had claimed that Iran asked for a ceasefire, saying he would consider it when the Strait of Hormuz reopened. Iranian officials rejected those claims, saying no such request was made.
Trump also scaled up threats to pull the US out of Nato if European states don’t help stop Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the ABC and Reuters reported.
Trump told the UK's Daily Telegraph that Nato was a "paper tiger" and removing the US was now "beyond reconsideration".
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Over the Ditch, in a rare national broadcast on radio and television last night, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asked Australians to switch to public transport if possible, as the oil crisis continues.
"Enjoy your Easter, and if you're hitting the road, don't take more fuel than you need, just fill up like you normally would. Think of others in your community, in the bush and in critical industries," he said. "And over coming weeks, if you can switch to catching the train or bus or tram to work, do so. That builds our reserves and it saves fuel for people who have no choice but to drive."
Staying with Iran, the heads of the International Energy Agency, International Monetary Fund and World Bank planned to form a coordination group to respond to the war, Al Jazeera said.
The coordination group aimed to assess the severity of economic consequences across countries, coordinate a response, and direct support to countries in need.
In other news, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has confidentially filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to sources, as the rocket company gets a step closer to a record public offering, CNBC and Bloomberg reported.
The company could seek a valuation of US$1.75 trillion, with a listing in June, the sources said. Musk is the world’s richest person, with a net worth of close to US$840 billion, according to Forbes.
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