Global markets closed lower after the United States and Iran exchanged attacks for the first time in nearly a month, with U.S. forces striking an island in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran responding with attacks on the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Oil prices surged amid fears of a disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz: WTI rose 3.1% to $86.0, and Brent advanced 2.7% to $90.5. In the equity markets, the Dow Jones fell 0.7%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.3%, and the Nasdaq declined 0.1%; in Europe, the Stoxx 600 fell 0.4%, while Asia showed a mixed picture with the Nikkei down 0.1%, the Kospi up 0.5%, and the CSI 300 up 0.3%. In commodities, gold fell 0.1%, silver rose 0.4%, and copper gained 0.6%. In the bond market, there was a significant bear steepening (long-term rates rising more than short-term rates): the 10-year UST rose 4.0 bps to its highest level since January 2025, the 30-year UST rose 4.8 bps, while the 2-year UST fell just 0.2 bps; in Europe, the 10-year Bund rose 4.5 bps and the 10-year Gilt jumped 8.2 bps. The DXY fell 0.3% to 99.4, and the VIX rose 0.5 pts to 14.91.

Venezuelan bonds started the day up 0.5 pts, but a heavy wave of selling during the session reversed that gain and left them at their closing levels: the short-, medium-, and long-term segments of the sovereign bond market fell 0.1, 0.1, and 0.2 pts, respectively, while PDVSA had a somewhat weaker day, with declines of 0.3, 0.4, and 0.4 points in its short-, medium-, and long-term maturities. Elecar fell 0.2 points, and the PDV'20 was the exception, gaining 0.1 points. Trading volume continues to rise, with approximately USD 240 million traded in PDVSA alone during the day.

In Latin American credit markets, yield curves closed broadly in the red, in line with the global risk-off sentiment. Pemex was the hardest hit, with a decline of 0.6 pts, followed by Colombia (-0.5 pts), Mexico and Brazil (-0.3 pts each), the Dominican Republic and Argentina (-0.2 pts each), and El Salvador and Ecuador (-0.1 pts each). Trading volume on Latin American credit curves was medium to low.