Real-time News

April 25 – According to a report by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRNA) on April 24, Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi, who has arrived in Islamabad, has no scheduled meetings with US representatives. However, he will use Pakistan as an intermediary to convey messages to the US, including Iran's concerns about ending the current conflict. A Pakistani source previously told Xinhua News Agency that Araqchi would discuss the preconditions for Iran-US negotiations with Pakistani officials; if progress is made, Iran is expected to hold further direct negotiations with US representatives.

S&P affirmed Germany's "AAA/A-1+" rating; outlook is stable.

S&P downgrades Slovakia's rating to "A"; outlook stable.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 79.61 points, or 0.16%, at 49,230.71 on Friday, April 24; the S&P 500 rose 56.68 points, or 0.80%, to 7,165.08 on Friday, April 24; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 398.09 points, or 1.63%, to 24,836.60 on Friday, April 24.

S&P affirmed Kyiv's rating at "CCC+" with a stable outlook.

S&P downgraded Belgium's rating to "AA-"; outlook stable.

Hang Seng Index futures closed up 0.29% at 26,041 points in overnight trading, a premium of 63 points.

On April 25th, US President Trump stated that Iran plans to propose a response to US demands. He said the specifics of the proposal are currently unclear. When asked who the US is negotiating with, Trump said, "I don't want to name names, but we are in contact with the people currently in power." Iran has not yet responded.

According to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as of the week ending April 21, speculative net long positions in COMEX silver futures decreased by 2,184 contracts to 8,863 contracts.

According to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as of the week ending April 21, speculative net long positions in COMEX gold futures decreased by 3,354 contracts to 95,498 contracts.

According to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), in the week ending April 21, speculators increased their net short positions in CBOT U.S. 2-year Treasury futures by 39,547 contracts to 1,743,353 contracts, decreased their net short positions in U.S. 5-year Treasury futures by 92,995 contracts to 1,532,750 contracts, decreased their net short positions in U.S. 10-year Treasury futures by 9,394 contracts to 790,971 contracts, and decreased their net short positions in ultra-long-term Treasury futures by 536 contracts to 300,287 contracts.

According to Saudi Arabia's Al-Hadath TV: Pakistan will work with Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi in the next few hours to prioritize resolving the Hormuz crisis.

US President Trump: Iran wants to have dialogue to see if an agreement can be reached.

US President Trump: US officials negotiating with Iran are dealing with the people in power right now.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs: A delegation led by Iranian Foreign Minister Araqchi arrived in Islamabad today.

On April 25th, the director of the Iranian Parliament's Center for Communications, Media and Cultural Affairs stated on the 24th that Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf had not resigned from any position, and that he or someone else had not yet been appointed as the head of the Iranian delegation for the new round of negotiations. The official stated that these rumors were intended to sow discord, and that Mr. Ghalibaf was still "diligently fulfilling his duties." On the 23rd, Israeli sources reported that Ghalibaf had resigned from the Iranian negotiating team due to the intervention of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

As of the 2:30 closing bell, the main Shanghai gold futures contract rose 0.26%, the main Shanghai silver futures contract rose 0.28%, and the main SC crude oil futures contract fell 0.62%.

OpenAI: GPT-5.5 and GPT-5.5 Pro are now available in the API.