Real-time News

April 7th - Russia's crude oil prices rose to their highest level in over 13 years as the global oil price surge triggered by the situation with Iran. According to Argus Media, on April 2nd, the price of Russia's flagship Urals crude reached $116.05 per barrel at Primorsk, Russia's largest oil export facility on the Baltic coast. This price, excluding transportation costs, is almost double the average of $59 per barrel assumed in Russia's budget this year. Amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, substantial oil revenues are easing the Kremlin's financial pressure.

According to Iran's Nour News, power outages have occurred in parts of Karaj, Iran, due to artillery shells hitting power transmission lines.

Qatar maintains that the post-war Hormuz Agreement should not exclude any parties in the region.

Qatar maintains that the post-war Hormuz Agreement should include international guarantees.

April 7th - Shipping data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Kpler showed that crude oil exports from the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu fell by approximately 15% week-on-week in the week ending March 30th, averaging nearly 3.9 million barrels per day, compared to an average of nearly 4.6 million barrels per day the previous week. Kpler analyst Johannes Rauball stated, "The decline in exports likely reflects issues with vessel availability and unloading times." A shipping industry source indicated that Houthi statements regarding a possible attack on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have caused some shipowners to hesitate to send vessels to the port.

Russian Prime Minister: The global market is once again viewing Russia as a reliable supplier.

Bank of England Deputy Governor Lombardelli: All sectors are proposing dynamic pricing.

Bank of England Deputy Governor Lombardelli: We need to understand more about how households feel about inflation.

S&P Oil & Gas ETF Wells Fargo: Trading will be suspended from the opening of the market on April 8, 2026 until 10:30 a.m. on that day.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index has given back its gains and is currently flat.

On April 7, Premier Li Qiang spoke by phone with Australian Prime Minister Barnes. Li Qiang pointed out that China-Australia economic and trade cooperation has strong endogenous driving forces and enormous potential in the long run. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will adhere to the strategic focus of expanding domestic demand, vigorously boost consumption, significantly increase the residents' consumption rate, and continuously unleash market demand. China's vast market will always be open to the world. China is willing to import more high-quality products from Australia, work with Australia to continuously expand and improve bilateral trade, support enterprises from both countries to cooperate according to market principles, and promote mutual benefit and win-win results. Both sides should accelerate the review and upgrading of the bilateral free trade agreement to provide better institutional guarantees for bilateral cooperation. There is great potential for China-Australia green cooperation. China is willing to strengthen complementary advantages with Australia, deepen cooperation in clean energy, new energy vehicles, energy storage, carbon reduction, and other fields, and jointly strengthen the driving force for green economic development.

The euro rose 1% against the Swedish krona to 11.0144, its highest level since November 27 last year.

On April 7th, Berenberg analyst Holger Szmidin stated in a report that if the Hungarian people vote to oust Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in this weekend's election, the country's economy will receive a significant boost. He pointed out that this would remove a key obstacle to strengthening European cooperation within the existing EU framework and pave the way for harsher sanctions against Russia. Over the past six years, Hungary has transformed from a vibrant emerging market and investment destination into a laggard in Central and Eastern Europe. Independent polls predict a victory for the pro-EU opposition led by Peter Magyar on April 12th. However, Orbán could still remain in power or severely limit the new government's policy options.

According to Hong Kong Stock Exchange documents, Beijing Tianxing Medical Co., Ltd. has passed the listing hearing of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

On April 7th, Unisoc announced that its joint innovation laboratory with Geely Automobile was officially inaugurated at the Geely Automobile Research Institute in Ningbo. The two companies also announced in-depth cooperation in four areas: customized intelligent cockpits and edge AI chips, development of vehicle-cloud integrated product applications, joint construction of a cockpit-driver integration ecosystem, and deepening the automotive chip industry chain. Regarding deepening the automotive chip industry chain, the two companies will jointly build a product verification platform to promote the comprehensive implementation of Unisoc's chip solutions and conduct joint research in upstream and downstream industry chains such as EDA, IP, wafer fabrication, and packaging and testing.

European Commission: EU energy measures should not lead to inflation. The EU is developing a toolbox to lower energy prices.

On April 7th, Neolix announced the launch of its AI assistant, NeoClaw, integrated into the top of its autonomous vehicle management app, "Neolix On-Time Delivery." Users can manage vehicles intelligently through dialogue and even perform real-world autonomous vehicle operation tasks. Currently, NeoClaw is available in select areas of Beijing and Qingdao, with plans to expand to more regions in the future.

European Commission: The EU oil coordination group will meet on Wednesday, and the gas coordination group will meet on Thursday.

European Commission: Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected.

European Commission: The EU will hold a new round of meetings of the oil and gas coordination group.