Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia Edition

The US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that’s expected to halt the American-Israeli military campaign in exchange for Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump announced the agreement Tuesday on social media hours after Pakistan, a mediator in talks, implored the US leader to back off his deadline to unleash massive devastation on Iran if it did not meet his demands. The deal buys time for the two sides to reach a longer agreement to end the six-week-old war, which has killed thousands of people and sparked a global energy crisis.

Trump said he had agreed “to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks” as long as Iran agrees to “the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”

For instant reaction and analysis, Bloomberg Radio host Doug Krizner speaks with:
- Bloomberg State Department and Foreign Policy Reporter Eric Martin
- Bloomberg This Weekend co-host Christina Ruffini
- Bloomberg White House and Washington correspondent Jeff Mason
- Terry Haines, founder of Pangea Policy
- Daniel Byman, Director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center
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Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific.
Financial markets swung amid uncertainty ahead of President Donald Trump's Iran deadline, with tentative ceasefire signals offset by the risk of an escalation in the conflict. Brent crude trimmed its opening gains to trade just under $110 a barrel as markets remained volatile before Trump's Tuesday 8 p.m. Eastern Time cutoff. US equity-index futures erased initial losses to trade little changed. We speak to Paul Dobson, Bloomberg's Executive Editor for Asia Markets.
Plus - President Donald Trump insisted that freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz be part of any deal to end the Middle East war and escalated threats to obliterate key Iranian infrastructure if his terms aren't met before a Tuesday deadline. Trump said Monday that talks with Iran are "going well" and that reopening the strait as "a very big priority." The president in recent weeks has said an agreement on the strait wasn't among his core prerequisites for ending the conflict. "We have to have a deal that's acceptable to me, and part of that deal is going to be we want free traffic of oil and everything," he said at a White House news conference. For more, we heard from Elisa Ewers, Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She spoke to Bloomberg's Paul Allen and Shery Ahn on the Asia Trade.
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Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Nathan Hager take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week.
In the US – a look ahead to earnings for Delta Airlines and a focus on 3 stocks for the week ahead.
In the UK – a look ahead to the new tax year in the UK.
In Asia – a look ahead to China CPI and PPI data.
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On this special Good Friday Holiday edition of Bloomberg Daybreak, host John Tucker discusses:
Big bank earnings with Bloomberg Intelligence Senior US Banks Analyst Herman Chan and Bloomberg Intelligence Financials Analyst Neil Sipes
A year after Elon Musk set out to slash jobs at the IRS, the agency is struggling to meet demands amid a busy filing season. For more, we hear from Bloomberg Law Reporter Erin Slowey.
Well you may be seeing a little less of the candy this Easter.. That's because sales are projected to drop.. For details, we speak with Bloomberg's Diana Rosero-Pena.
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President Donald Trump said the war in Iran is “very close” to completion, even as he signaled strikes could escalate in the near term.

Trump in a rare prime-time address on Wednesday cast the war as a success, saying the operation had nearly achieved its military goals, including destroying Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, air force, navy and industrial base. He said those steps would prevent Tehran’s proxies from destabilizing the region and cut off the country’s path to nuclear weapons.

“Tonight I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” Trump said from the White House in a roughly 20-minute speech. “We are going to finish the job. and we’re going to finish it very fast, we’re getting very close.”

The speech came as the president is grasping for an off-ramp in a conflict that has quickly slipped out of control.

For instant reaction and analysis, Bloomberg Radio host Doug Krizner speaks with Bloomberg This Weekend co-host Christina Ruffini and Bloomberg White House and Washington correspondent Jeff Mason.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.