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US Stock Market LIVE Updates: S&P 500 futures ease after Monday rally as oil rebounds, Iran conflict continues

Published on 24/03/2026 06:53 PM

A new free-trade agreement between the UK and Switzerland must overcome issues such as data regulation, intellectual property and access to service-sector companies, the Swiss government said while stressing that talks are “well advanced.”

 

Almost three years into the talks, negotiators have made “good progress” on services, investment and digital trade, Bern’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs told Bloomberg. The 10th round of negotiations took place this month in Geneva, according to an emailed statement.

Iran has stopped natural gas exports to Turkey following an Israeli strike on the giant South Pars gas field last week, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

Ankara is still importing gas from Russia and Azerbaijan, its main suppliers, and can use gas held in storage, the people said, asking not to be named because the information is private. The Turkish Energy Ministry declined to comment.

New York City’s transit agency is set to approve a $1 billion excavation contract as part of its Second Avenue subway expansion — but the deal might be stalled if federal funds for the project are not released.

 

While the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to authorise the agreement on Wednesday, the transit agency won’t be able to enter the contract until it receives about $60 million of suspended funds, according to MTA officials.

 

The operator of the city’s subways, buses and commuter rails last week sued the Trump administration for the money, which has been on hold since October as the US Department of Transportation reviews the transit agency’s contracting process.

Russia is delaying a decision aimed at reducing its dependence on energy income as oil prices surge on the back of the war in the Middle East.

 

An adjustment to the country’s budget rule — which sets the oil-price threshold for tapping reserves in the National Wellbeing Fund — has been postponed, along with sales of the fund’s assets to finance the deficit, according to two people familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be identified because the talks aren’t public.

 

The government may return to the decision as early as June, one of the people said.

Russia is delaying a decision aimed at reducing its dependence on energy income as oil prices surge on the back of the war in the Middle East.

 

An adjustment to the country’s budget rule — which sets the oil-price threshold for tapping reserves in the National Wellbeing Fund — has been postponed, along with sales of the fund’s assets to finance the deficit, according to two people familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be identified because the talks aren’t public.

 

The government may return to the decision as early as June, one of the people said.

Kleiner Perkins, the half-century-old venture capital institution, is raising $3.5 billion to make bets on artificial intelligence startups reshaping industries including software, health care, transportation and autonomy.

 

The firm — best known for its early industry-defining investments in companies like Google and Amazon.com Inc. — will dedicate $1 billion of the new cash to its 22nd early-stage fund, targeted at finding promising AI upstarts. The other $2.5 billion will be focused on investing in growth-stage companies, larger startups that include increasingly cash-hungry artificial intelligence players.

Oil prices were higher on Tuesday, paring losses after falling sharply in the previous session, as energy market participants assessed developments related to the Iran war.

 

International benchmark Brent crude futures with May delivery were traded up more than 1% at around $101 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures for May traded more than 2% higher at roughly $90 per barrel.

 

Stocks fluctuated and oil climbed as traders grappled with a range of possible outcomes for the war in the Middle East, with fighting continuing as US President Donald Trump pushed for talks.

 

S&P 500 contracts were 0.1% lower after swinging between gains and losses. Treasuries dipped, with the two-year yield climbing two basis points to 3.88%. WTI crude rose above $90 a barrel, paring Monday’s steep decline. The dollar gained 0.2% while gold edged higher.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. says ageing, run-down grid infrastructure now risks undermining security goals, with everything from extreme weather to cyberattacks posing a growing threat.

 

The Wall Street bank, which laid out its analysis in a report seen by Bloomberg, describes the current decades-old grid network as a “national security risk.” Against that backdrop, investments that make grid infrastructure more resilient are becoming “increasingly attractive,” according to JPMorgan.

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