Ships and tankers in the Strait of Hormuz off Musandam, Oman, April 18, 2026.
Stringer | Reuters
Hello, my name is Leonie Kidd. I’m writing to you from Singapore (yes, not London this week!). Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
When I flew into Singapore over the weekend, I had a front row seat to a literal sea of cargo ships docked in Singapore Port. Hopes that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen to tanker traffic were dashed before the engines could even start. Now, with a surge in Iranian tanker attacks and U.S. attacks on Iranian-flagged cargo ships, a restart is even less likely.
Initial trading in stocks has been remarkably stable, but it will be interesting to see if risk-off trading accelerates across global markets as Europe and the US come online.
What you need to know today
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday that a U.S. Navy missile destroyer opened fire on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, disabling it, before Marines boarded it and seized it.
President Trump said the aircraft carrier USS Spruance intercepted the Iranian ship Tuska and “gave it fair warning to stop.”
“Because the Iranian crews wouldn’t listen, our naval vessels cut a hole in the engine room and stopped them right in their tracks,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The escalation in tensions follows a dramatic weekend in which Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open to traffic, only to see it closed again.
This volatility also affected the oil market, with crude oil prices soaring in early trading.
The reaction in stocks has so far been more muted, with pre-market indicators in major markets in Europe and the United States lower, while trading across Asia was mixed.
In political news, it looks like it’s going to be a tough Monday for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He will make a statement in the House of Commons explaining how Peter Mandelson became British ambassador to the US despite failing security checks.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman nominee Kevin Warsh is preparing for his confirmation hearing scheduled for Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee. If confirmed, he could become the richest Federal Reserve chairman in U.S. history.
