Bloomberg News Now: US Nearing Agreement with Iran to End War

0:00 News way you want it with Bloomberg News now.

0:03 I'm Nathan Hager.

0:04 And I'm John Tucker.

0:06 Let's get you up to date on the news you need to know at this hour,

0:09 including a major development in the war with Iran.

0:11 Axios is reporting the White House thinks it's

0:14 getting close to a deal to end the conflict.

0:17 Bloomberg's Patrick Sykes reports from Istanbul that this memo

0:20 would set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations.

0:24 Think the optimistic thing to note in that is

0:27 that both sides would apparently agree to lift the restrictions

0:30 on the war on the Strait of Hormuz so we

0:33 could see a kind of return to normal for shipping.

0:36 The caveat is that it would be an initial step.

0:39 It would be contingent on the not being a resumption

0:43 of hostilities and it would slightly kick the can down the road.

0:47 In terms of the equally thorny issue of what happens to Iran's nuclear program.

0:52 But markets responding very positively,

0:54 I think mainly to their Hormuz potential.

0:55 And Bloomberg's Patrick Sykes adds,

0:57 Many of the terms laid out in the memo would be contingent on a final agreement.

1:00 The news this morning comes after President Trump

1:03 announced on social media he would pause an effort

1:05 to guide stranded ships through the Strait

1:06 of Hormuz in an attempt to reach a deal.

1:09 Hours earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio

1:11 declared the offensive phase of the war over.

1:14 There's no shooting unless we're shot at first.

1:17 We're not attacking them.

1:18 We're not.

1:19 But if they're attacking us, so they're attacking a ship.

1:21 You need to respond to that.

1:23 You're not going to let some fast boat come up on a ship and shoot it up.

1:27 Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke at a White House news conference.

1:30 And as we monitor these developments, gas prices keep rising.

1:33 Tripoli's nationwide average is topped 450 a gallon

1:36 for the first time since July 2022.

1:39 That is an all time high for this time of year.

1:43 And Nathan, Tehran's top diplomat, is in Beijing for talks with China.

1:47 Ahead this morning, China's foreign minister is urging Iran to keep

1:51 negotiating in pursuit of a lasting truce with the U.S.

1:54 These discussions come just days before President

1:57 Trump is scheduled to arrive in China.

1:59 President Trump says he would discuss the war with China's leader, Xi Jinping.

2:03 We're doing a lot of business, which I am making a lot of money.

2:06 We're making a lot of money.

2:07 It's different than it used to be.

2:10 But I mean, talking about that'll be one subject.

2:12 But he's been very nice about this.

2:14 You know, in all fairness, he gets like 60% of his oil from hormones.

2:19 And he's been I think he's been very respectful.

2:22 We haven't been challenged by China and challenges.

2:25 Leaders are slated to meet in Beijing on May 14th

2:28 and 15th mention global trade is in focus this morning as well.

2:32 The U.S.

2:33 ambassador to the European Union, Andy Pozner,

2:35 says Washington will implement 25% tariffs on cars and trucks from the EU,

2:41 in his words, relatively soon.

2:43 If the bloc does not swiftly ratify a long delayed trade deal.

2:47 What the president was saying, look, this has gone on long enough.

2:50 We're done.

2:50 We're done debating, we are negotiating.

2:53 We cut a deal.

2:54 President von der Leyen and I cut a deal in July.

2:57 Our representatives put it to paper in August.

3:00 We cut the tariffs retroactive to August one on automobiles,

3:03 and you've done nothing for nine months.

3:06 So on autos, unless we see some substantial progress,

3:10 I think you probably should expect those relatively soon.

3:13 The U.S.

3:14 ambassador to the EU, Andy Pozner,

3:16 made those comments to Bloomberg this morning.

3:18 The EU, meanwhile, is frustrated over several moves

3:21 by the president that it argues undermines U.S.

3:24 commitments under the pact and the clash

3:27 between President Trump and Pope Leo flaring up

3:30 again ahead of a diplomatic mission by Secretary

3:32 of State marco Rubio to the Vatican.

3:34 Speaking to reporters outside his residence near Rome last night,

3:37 the pontiff said he would continue to preach peace.

3:40 The pope pointed out that the church has spoken out

3:43 for years against all nuclear weapons but seems to rebuff President Trump.

3:47 Yesterday, the president spoke about the issue with the Hugh Hewitt show.

3:51 The pope would rather talk about the fact

3:53 that it's okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

3:56 And I don't think that's very good.

3:58 I think he's endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.

4:01 But I guess if it's up to the pope,

4:03 he thinks it's just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

4:08 Secretary Rubio, a Catholic,

4:09 is set to meet with the pope at the Vatican tomorrow morning.

4:12 Let's turn back to markets now, John.

4:14 Futures are surging once again after

4:17 yesterday's record setting day on Wall Street.

4:20 Chips are set for more gains after earnings from Advanced Micro Devices.

4:24 That stock is up nearly 19% in early trading.

4:28 Let's get the details now from Bloomberg's Alexis Christopher us.

4:31 Good morning, Alexis.

4:32 Good morning, Nathan.

4:33 A flood of spending on data center has helped boost

4:36 AMD's first quarter results and its second quarter sales forecast.

4:40 The upbeat outlook signals that it's winning orders

4:42 from the biggest spenders on artificial intelligence computing,

4:45 with data center customers increasingly looking

4:48 for alternatives to invidious shares of AMD, they've been on a tear.

4:52 The stock was up 66% heading into its earnings report,

4:56 and it's on track to reach a record high if those gains extend in.

4:59 To regular trading in New York, Alexis Christophe for us, Bloomberg Radio.

5:03 All right, thanks, Alexis.

5:04 And the earnings continued today with more than 30

5:07 companies in the S&P 500 reporting heading the list, Disney.

5:11 Let's get a preview now from Bloomberg's Tom Busby.

5:14 Now, this is Disney's first earnings report under new CEO Josh tomorrow,

5:17 who's right now dealing with the FCC announcing an early

5:20 license review of Disney's owned and operated ABC stations.

5:24 That's over some off color jokes from late night host Jimmy Kimmel.

5:26 Also, there's the collapse of a $1 billion deal

5:29 with Openai after it shut down its Sora video generating tool.

5:32 But thanks to strengthen its theme parks division and add its movie studios,

5:36 which have a new Star Wars film out later this month,

5:39 Toy Story five out in June.

5:41 So Bloomberg Consensus calls for revenue of $24.87 billion

5:45 on adjusted earnings per share of a dollar 51.

5:48 Tom Busby, Bloomberg Radio.

5:50 That's news when you want it with Bloomberg News now.

5:52 I'm John Tucker.

5:54 I'm Nathan Hager and this is Bloomberg.