On April 28, 2026, U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the M/V Bluestar III, a commercial vessel suspected of attempting to transit to Iran in violation of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. The U.S. military released the ship after conducting a search and confirming that the ship’s voyage did not include a port call in Iran.
U.S. Marine Corps | Centcom
Hello, my name is Anique Bao from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
In some cases, an action may produce the opposite of the desired result. U.S. attempts to assert control over the Iranian conflict, whether through oil diplomacy or tough negotiations, have had the opposite effect. Far from calming the market, they highlighted how little is resolved.
Peace negotiations have stalled. Transport lanes remain congested. And even OPEC+’s modest output hikes were shrugged off.
The market appears to have come to terms with the stalemate for now. S&P 500 futures rose slightly, but crude oil was little moved. However, as the week progresses, even the relatively calm situation may prove fragile.
What you need to know today
Seven OPEC+ members agreed on Sunday to raise their June production target by 188,000 barrels per day, the third consecutive month of increases. However, the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, and the impact on the real world is likely to be limited. The meeting was also the cartel’s first meeting since the United Arab Emirates abruptly withdrew from the cartel last week.
Oil prices fell slightly on Sunday, while S&P 500 futures rose slightly, as investors reacted to continued uncertainty over the progress of negotiations between the United States and Iran. international benchmark brent crude oil Prices fell less than 1% to about $107 per barrel, but West Texas Intermediate Oil prices fell to about $101 per barrel.
US President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that the US would begin rescuing a ship stranded in the Strait on Monday, describing the effort as a “humanitarian act” against a neutral country not involved in the US-Israel war against Iran. The president provided few details about how the process would unfold.
Hours earlier, the Iranian government confirmed that it had received a U.S. response to its 14-point peace proposal. President Trump said over the weekend that he had not yet considered the exact language of the Iran peace plan, but that he would likely veto it because “it’s not paying a high enough price.”
Iranian state media quoted Foreign Ministry Esmail Baghai as saying nuclear talks would be taken off the table until a ceasefire is reached and the blockade of both sides’ vital energy arteries is lifted.
Amid prolonged disruptions to Gulf oil flows, U.S. oil exports soared to an all-time high, shipping 5.2 million barrels a day in April, up more than 30% from February, according to Kpler.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said energy prices, which have soared since the war began in late February, are likely to ease later this year.
“Oil prices on the other side of this conflict are going to be significantly lower,” Bessent said on Fox Business Network’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Geopolitical tensions have spread beyond the Middle East. China’s Ministry of Commerce is moving to block U.S. sanctions against five Chinese refiners accused of buying Iranian crude oil, signaling a renewed escalation of tensions between China and the United States.
A U.S. delegation led by Republican Sen. Steve Daines was reportedly scheduled to visit China last week, with stops in Beijing and Shanghai, less than two weeks before a meeting between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Following talks held on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, finance ministers from China, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN across the region said they were closely monitoring the market and prepared to respond to fluctuations if necessary.
CNBC is in Uzbekistan covering the gathering, including moderating the discussion at the event. The bank on Sunday announced a $70 billion program to expand energy grids and digital infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific region by 2035.
— Anique Bao
And finally…
Berkshire Annual Meeting Summary: Buffett says investment environment is not ideal, sees “gambling” in the market
At his first annual meeting as CEO, Berkshire Hathaway’s Greg Abel discussed a wide range of topics, from artificial intelligence to efforts to grow the conglomerate.
Abel said the Omaha-based company is thinking critically about how to leverage AI to add value, adding that Berkshire is “not going to do AI for AI’s sake.” Abel also outlined efforts to improve the railroad and insurance businesses at the event, which has long been called “Woodstock for Capitalists.”
Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick in a special sideline interview that he doesn’t see an ideal investment environment. Buffett likened the market to a church with a casino, distinguishing between traditional value investing, the current craze for short-term options trading, and the growing interest in prediction markets.
“People can move between churches and casinos, and I think there are more people in church than in casinos, but casinos have become very attractive,” he said. “If you buy and sell one-day options, it’s not investing, it’s not speculating. It’s gambling.”
“People have never been more in a gambling mood than they are now,” he says.
— Yun Li, Alex Harring, Sarah Ming, Tobias Burns
