Brent crude oil fell back below $80 a barrel in early European trade Wednesday, dropping 0.6% to $78.50, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. and Iran have reached a memorandum of understanding that would waive U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil sales and lift blockades in the Strait of Hormuz. The development lifted sentiment in energy markets, sending West Texas Intermediate down 0.8% to $75.46. Both benchmarks settled more than 5% lower in Tuesday’s session, their lowest closes in more than three months, the Journal reported.

Data provider Kpler said that at least two Iranian-linked supertankers carrying Kharg Island crude appear to have crossed the U.S. naval blockade line, Kpler officials said, potentially signaling coordinated fleet activity ahead of any formal sanctions or blockade removal.

U.S. stock futures were in positive territory after weakness in semiconductor stocks weighed on markets Tuesday. Futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average nudged up 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.8% as semiconductor stocks rallied in after-hours trade, with Micron Technology adding 4.4%.

The dollar traded steady, with the DXY dollar index flat at 99.554, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision Wednesday afternoon. The Fed is broadly expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 3.50%-3.75%, according to economists surveyed by the Journal. Attention is focused on Chair Kevin Warsh’s first FOMC meeting and his subsequent press conference. “Investors are now almost evenly split between the prospect of further tightening and that of policy easing, effectively pricing a steady Fed through year-end,” Kevin Thozet of Carmignac said in a note.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield stood at 4.47% on Wednesday, with the yield-curve spread between the 10-year and 2-year notes at 0.38 percentage points, according to Federal Reserve data. The 10-year real yield, as measured by Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, was at 2.15%. U.S. consumer price inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target, though the central bank is widely seen as having room to hold its policy rate steady.

Eurozone government bond yields fell in early trade after weaker-than-expected U.K. inflation data. U.K. annual CPI inflation remained at 2.8% in May, against expectations in a Wall Street Journal poll for a rise to 3.0%. “Pressure on the Bank of England to hike rates this year will continue to fade as a result,” Luke Bartholomew of Aberdeen said in a note. The 10-year German Bund yield fell 2.2 basis points to 2.920%, according to Tradeweb data.

Asian equities were mixed Wednesday afternoon. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7%, while South Korea’s Kospi added 1.6% to close at another record high, with both indexes benefiting from a rally in AI-related stocks. Memory chip maker SK Hynix gained 5.8%. China’s benchmark Shanghai composite climbed 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.8% lower as discretionary consumer stocks fell.

European stock indexes were mixed in cautious opening trade. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 was flat. Autos fell after BMW cut its outlook, with the carmaker tumbling 8% in Frankfurt and dragging peers lower. The German DAX slipped 0.15%. In Paris, the CAC 40 edged up 0.1%, though cross-listed Stellantis fell 2.6% and chip maker STMicroelectronics extended losses, falling 1.2%. Industrials strengthened as oil prices fell; Rolls-Royce rose 1.7% in London, as the FTSE 100 traded flat.

Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $65,522, LSEG data show, while gold futures traded 0.2% lower at $4,344.70 a troy ounce. MUFG’s Soojin Kim wrote that easing inflationary pressures would typically weigh on non-yielding assets like gold but that the precious metal is supported by lingering geopolitical uncertainty and cautious investor sentiment.