-- European stock markets were tracking lower and oil prices surged in Wednesday trading as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, despite President Trump indefinitely extended a ceasefire with Iran.
The Stoxx Europe was declining 0.4%, Germany's DAX was down 0.3%, the FTSE 100 was edging 0.2% lower, France's CAC was falling 0.9%, and the Swiss Market Index was off 0.5%.
In the UK, the annual consumer prices index rose 3.3% in March, up from 3.0% in February, which matched analyst expectations, according to Bloomberg. On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.7%, up from 0.4% in February, and ahead of the 0.6% expected by analysts polled by Bloomberg.
And in corporate news, T-Mobile's largest shareholder, Deutsche Telekom, is mulling a full combination with the US-based carrier in what would be the largest-ever public M&A deal, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The German carrier, which owns a 53% stake in T-Mobile, has been considering creating a new holding company that would make a stock bid for shares of both companies, the report said.
T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom declined to comment to.
Shares of the German telecommunications operator were falling 4.6% in Frankfurt.
HSBC has shortlisted Allianz, Daiichi Life Group, and Sumitomo Life Insurance as potential buyers of its Singapore insurance business, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The firms are working with advisers to prepare binding bids for HSBC Life Singapore in the coming weeks, the unnamed sources told the news outlet, adding that HSBC could seek a valuation of up to $2 billion for the business.
A spokesperson from HSBC toldthat the company "declines to comment on market speculation" and that its HSBC Life Singapore unit remains under a strategic review. Allianz declined to comment, while Daiichi, and Sumitomo didn't immediately respond to requests for statements.
Shares of the British bank were off 0.5% in London.
ASML's capacity and productivity improvements should prevent it from becoming a bottleneck for the chip industry, as it was in recent years, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing Chief Executive Christophe Fouquet.
"Customers will be strongly tempted to look at other suppliers and potentially at alternatives to our technology; we have seen that in the past," Fouquet said at the chip maker's annual meeting Wednesday in Veldhoven, Netherlands, according to the report.
Shares of ASML were up 0.6% in Amsterdam.
BHP Group said Wednesday its fiscal Q3 copper output decreased by 7% year on year to 476,800 tonnes, while iron ore production rose by 2% to 62.1 million tonnes.
For fiscal 2026, the company said it continues to expect copper production of 1.9 million tonnes to 2 million tonnes, and iron ore production of 258 million tonnes to 269 million tonnes.
Shares of the mining company were rising more than 2% in London.