Author: Fiona Craig

U.S. equity futures pointed to a strong opening on Monday as investors reacted positively to reports that the United States and Iran have reached an agreement to end a conflict that has lasted for more than three months.

The development boosted risk appetite across financial markets, with traders focusing on the potential benefits of lower energy prices and reduced inflationary pressures.

Trump Signals End to Hostilities

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that a deal with Iran is “now complete” and authorized the “toll free opening” of the Strait or Hormuz along with the immediate removal of the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

Trump later explained that the waterway would reopen following the formal signing of the agreement on Friday, allowing time for mine-clearing operations.

According to reports, the agreement extends the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran for 60 days, creating an opportunity for negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear programme and its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Oil Drops Sharply Following the Announcement

Crude prices fell more than 5% after the news, easing fears that elevated energy costs could continue feeding inflation.

“Prior to the deal, investors had become increasingly concerned that higher energy costs would feed into broader inflation pressures and potentially force policymakers into additional tightening,” said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com.

“The sharp decline in oil prices does not eliminate inflation risks altogether, but it does reduce some of the urgency surrounding them,” she added. “That is particularly relevant this week as the Federal Reserve meets for the first time under new Chair Kevin Warsh.”

Stocks Extend Last Week’s Rally

The latest gains build on the momentum generated at the end of last week.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 51,202.26, while the S&P 500 gained 0.5% to 7,431.46. The Nasdaq added 0.3% to finish at 25,888.84.

All three major benchmarks advanced 0.7% for the week.

Uncertainty Remains Around Final Terms

Despite the positive market reaction, questions remain regarding the final structure of the agreement.

Trump, who last week called off a planned strike on Iran and indicated that a peace deal was close, later challenged reports emerging from Tehran.

In a Truth Social post on Monday, he said details released by Iran had “NOTHING to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing.”

He also described the Iranians as “very dishonorable people to deal with,” adding, “With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith.”

Reports suggest the proposed memorandum would reopen the Strait of Hormuz without tolls and provide sanctions relief tied to compliance measures.

The arrangement would also maintain a 60-day ceasefire, including in Lebanon, while broader nuclear negotiations take place.

Bloomberg reported that the agreement could be signed during next week’s G7 summit.

Further support for investor sentiment came after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated on X that a “final, agreed upon text of the peace deal has been reached.”

SpaceX Continues to Attract Investor Interest

Investors also kept a close watch on SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX), which completed the largest IPO ever on Friday.

The company surged 19.3% during its first day of trading, helping fuel enthusiasm for high-growth technology and innovation-focused stocks.

Gold, Airlines and Tech Stocks Outperform

Gold-related shares climbed as bullion prices strengthened, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up 3.1%.

Airline stocks also benefited from the sharp drop in fuel prices, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index gaining 2.8%.

Meanwhile, financial stocks, semiconductor companies and computer hardware firms posted solid gains, while biotechnology and utility shares lagged behind the broader market.

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the global business landscape, companies that successfully combine technological innovation with deep industry expertise are well positioned for growth. RWS Holdings (LSE:RWS), a global AI solutions company empowering the world’s most trusted enterprise AI, is demonstrating exactly how established businesses can embrace AI while delivering strong financial performance.

Speaking on The Watch List, Group Chief Executive Officer Ben Faes highlighted a strong first-half performance that reflects both operational excellence and the successful implementation of the company’s new strategic direction.

Strong Results Signal Positive Momentum

The first half of the year marked an important milestone for RWS Holdings as the company launched a new operating model and organisational structure. The results have provided encouraging evidence that these changes are delivering tangible benefits.

RWS exceeded guidance across all three of its key performance indicators: revenue growth, operating margin, and cash conversion. The company achieved an impressive 7% organic revenue growth while operating profit increased by an outstanding 28%.

According to Faes, these results demonstrate the strength of the business and the momentum being built across the organisation.

“We’re proud of what we’re building,” he said, emphasising that the focus now is on sustaining and accelerating that momentum.

AI as an Opportunity, Not a Threat

While AI is transforming content creation, localisation, and knowledge management, RWS views the technology as a significant growth opportunity rather than a disruption to be feared.

The company specialises in delivering complex services that help global enterprises operate safely and remain compliant across multiple markets. AI is enabling RWS to perform these critical functions more efficiently while maintaining high quality standards.

Faes stressed that AI is helping the company deliver faster, more accurate outcomes for clients, reinforcing its position as a trusted partner for multinational organisations navigating increasingly complex global environments.

Executing a Focused Growth Strategy

RWS’s strategy is built around three core pillars: serving large enterprise customers, accelerating innovation, and driving operational efficiency.

This focused approach is designed to create a faster, more agile organisation capable of responding to evolving customer needs while capitalising on emerging opportunities in AI-powered services.

A key element of this strategy is the recent acquisition of Obviously, a next generation integrated platform which enables enterprise clients to seamlessly manage, protect and enforce their Intellectual Property and brand integrity.

The acquisition aligns closely with RWS’s broader vision of using AI-driven solutions to solve complex business challenges and disrupt traditional approaches within the market.

Innovation at the Heart of Future Growth

Looking ahead, RWS remains focused on expanding the value it delivers to enterprise customers through innovation.

One emerging area of opportunity is voice AI. The company is already helping organisations train AI-powered voices to sound more natural and culturally appropriate, improving customer interactions and user experiences.

Faes also highlighted RWS’s ambition to build a “cultural intelligence layer” for enterprise AI applications. This capability will help organisations ensure that AI-generated content and communications remain relevant, accurate, and culturally sensitive across different markets and languages.

In addition, RWS is preparing to launch new platform capabilities that integrate AI agents, enabling businesses to deploy and manage content internationally with greater speed and efficiency.

Driving Efficiency Through Automation

Alongside innovation, operational excellence remains a priority. RWS continues to invest in automation across its own business processes, helping teams work more efficiently and respond more quickly to customer requirements.

By combining automation, AI-powered services, and a disciplined approach to execution, the company is creating a scalable platform for long-term growth.

Positioned for the Future

As global demand for multilingual content, localisation, compliance, and AI-enabled knowledge management continues to grow, RWS Holdings appears well positioned to benefit from some of the most significant technological shifts taking place across the business world.

With a strong financial performance, a clear strategic vision, targeted acquisitions, and a commitment to innovation, RWS is demonstrating how established industry leaders can successfully adapt and thrive in the AI era.

Under the leadership of Ben Faes, the company is building momentum and creating a future where technology, language, and cultural intelligence work together to help organisations succeed on a global scale.

For more information visit https://www.rws.com/

Gold prices continued their upward momentum on Monday, marking a third straight day of gains and climbing to their highest level since 9 June, even as hopes for peace in the Middle East improved investor sentiment.

The precious metal advanced while oil prices retreated sharply, reflecting expectations that an agreement between the United States and Iran could restore energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

Precious Metal Reaches Recent Highs

During early trading, spot gold touched $4,335 per ounce, while August gold futures rose to $4,356 per ounce.

At the same time, Brent crude fell around 5% to a low of $83 per barrel as traders reacted to the prospect of renewed oil flows from the Gulf region.

Trump Praises Ceasefire Agreement

U.S. President Donald Trump described the agreement between Washington and Tehran as a “major agreement that will bring peace and security to the entire region.”

Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: “Many presidents have tried to achieve peace with Iran, but all have failed before me. For the first time, the leaders of the region have found a president capable of helping them achieve real peace.”

He also noted that, with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, “scheduled for Friday, in conjunction with the signing of the agreement and to allow for mine clearance operations, oil will flow freely again, to the benefit of both the region and the rest of the world!”

Iran Outlines Conditions for Future Negotiations

The agreement was later confirmed by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who stated that discussions on a comprehensive settlement would continue during a 60-day period focused largely on sanctions relief.

According to Gharibabadi, Iran would only move forward with the next phase of negotiations after the release of frozen assets, the removal of the U.S. blockade and the formal end of the conflict.

Central Bank Decisions Remain Key Focus

The diplomatic breakthrough comes ahead of a busy week for central banks, including the first Federal Reserve meeting under new Chair Kevin Warsh.

Prior to the agreement, markets had increasingly expected U.S. interest rates to move higher by the end of 2026. However, expectations moderated after the announcement.

Data from the CME FedWatch Tool showed the probability of a December rate increase falling to 48%, compared with 69% a week earlier.

Lower Rate Expectations Offer Support

Gold generally struggles in periods of elevated interest rates because it does not provide a yield.

Since fighting began in late February, gold had largely moved inversely to oil prices, declining around 18% as investors worried that higher energy costs could keep inflation elevated and force central banks to maintain tighter monetary policies.

Christopher Wong, FX strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking, said the agreement “makes the macroeconomic scenario less hostile for gold,” but cautioned that “the agreement has yet to be formalized, so we could see mixed trading in the meantime.”

He added: “For gold to regain stronger bullish momentum, a more sustained improvement in the external environment would be needed, including lower yields, lower oil prices, and clearer evidence that the Fed’s hawkish hike has peaked.”

Oil prices came under renewed pressure on Monday after the United States and Iran announced a preliminary agreement aimed at ending their conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns over global energy supplies.

The prospect of restoring traffic through the strategic waterway pushed crude benchmarks to their lowest levels since early March, extending the sharp declines seen at the end of last week.

Energy Markets React to Diplomatic Progress

By 06:30 GMT, Brent crude futures had declined $3.65, or 4.2%, to $83.68 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $4.13, or 4.9%, to $80.75 per barrel.

Both contracts reached their lowest point since 10 March after dropping more than 3% on Friday as expectations for a diplomatic breakthrough gained momentum.

Markets have increasingly priced in the possibility that global oil supplies could normalise if restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz are removed.

Hormuz Reopening Seen as Key Development

Pakistan’s prime minister, whose country has acted as a mediator during the conflict, said a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran is expected to be signed in Switzerland on Friday.

President Donald Trump stated that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen on a “toll free” basis and that the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports would also be lifted.

Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported that the draft agreement envisages reopening the waterway within 30 days under Iranian supervision.

Traders Remove Geopolitical Premium

Analysts said the market reaction reflects a rapid reassessment of geopolitical risks that had driven oil prices higher during the conflict.

“The geopolitical risk premium that had been built into crude is now being unwound quite aggressively as traders price in the prospect of restored oil flows,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

The prolonged disruption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz removed a significant volume of oil and gas from international markets. Prior to the conflict, approximately 20% of global oil and LNG shipments passed through the route.

Supply Recovery Still Faces Challenges

Despite the optimism surrounding the agreement, investors remain focused on how quickly Middle Eastern producers can restore exports and whether shipping activity will recover smoothly.

Market participants are also assessing the extent of any infrastructure damage caused during the conflict and the potential impact on production capacity.

According to Commonwealth Bank of Australia commodities strategist Vivek Dhar, “While these uncertainties suggest upside risks to our forecast for Brent oil futures to reach $80/bbl by the end of the year, it’s worth noting that oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz just needs to reach 60-70% of pre-war levels to return oil markets to pre-war oversupply expectations.”

Focus Shifts to Compliance and Supply Normalisation

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said negotiations on a broader settlement would continue during a 60-day ceasefire period.

At the same time, the E4 countries — the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy — signalled their willingness to remove sanctions on Iran if progress is made on nuclear-related issues.

Analysts believe the next phase of market attention will focus on implementation rather than announcements.

“Beyond the immediate price reaction, attention will now shift toward the pace of actual supply normalization and compliance with the agreement,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.

She added: “While the conflict may have come to an end and oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz may gradually return to normal, the damage already done cannot be reversed overnight. This includes not only any physical damage to oil infrastructure but also the economic strain endured by oil importing economies that have faced elevated energy costs for months.”