(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a

columnist for Reuters.)

By Mike Dolan

May 11 (Reuters) -

What matters in U.S. and global markets today

By Mike Dolan, Editor-at-Large, Finance and Markets

The Iran conflict is entering its 11th week - more than

twice the length of time indicated by President Donald Trump

when he first ordered strikes on Iran - and there's no end in

sight.

Last week's hopes of a U.S. plan to end the war were knocked

back over the weekend as Iran's response was deemed "totally

unacceptable" by Trump.

I'll get into that and more below.

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11 WEEKS AND COUNTING

The U.S. and Iran still seem at odds over Tehran's nuclear

ambitions and its control of the Strait of Hormuz, which remains

largely shut to oil and cargo shipping.

World oil prices jumped nearly 5% on Trump's declaration

overnight, before easing slightly to leave Brent crude trading

at around $104 per barrel. That was enough to stall persistently

buoyant stock markets.

But the AI frenzy and chip boom continues to compete with the

energy crisis for attention, as evidenced by a parallel jump of

over 4% in South Korea's chip-heavy KOSPI benchmark on Monday.

Wall Street futures were mostly flat early on Monday, after the

S&P 500 set another series of record highs last week. Adding to

that sense of resilience was Friday's April U.S. employment

report, which chimed with a swathe of other labor market

indicators last week to show little or no damage to overall job

creation from the war so far.

Employment disturbance may come with a lag, however, and

still-high gas pump prices may eventually bite.

China's mainland stocks climbed ahead of this week's summit

between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which

will begin on Thursday. But above-forecast jumps in long-subdued

Chinese producer and consumer inflation amid the energy shock

may make for an uncomfortable backdrop.

Staying in Asia, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will set out

for Tokyo today for meetings with Japanese officials.

Elsewhere, pressure on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer from

within his own ruling Labour Party continued to build after poor

local election results last week. Following weekend reports of a

possible leadership challenge, Starmer said he would not step

down. He delivered a speech on Monday aimed at shoring up his

party's support.

Back stateside, existing home sales data is on the slate for

Monday, but April inflation updates will dominate from Tuesday.

Attention will also be on Washington, as the U.S. Senate may

vote on Monday on Kevin Warsh's nomination to be the next

Federal Reserve Chair. Outgoing Chair Jerome Powell's term will

formally expire on Friday.

Finally, the week's big company earnings include Cisco and

Applied Materials.

Chart of the day

China's export growth gathered pace in April as factories raced

to meet a wave of orders from AI-related industries and other

buyers seeking to stockpile components amid fears the Iran war

could push global input costs even higher.

That export strength, which has seen China's trade surplus

with the U.S. widen to $87.7 billion so far this year, will be

in focus next week as Trump travels to Beijing for the leaders'

summit that is expected to extend last year's trade truce.

Today's events to watch

* U.S. April existing home sales (10 a.m. EDT), April

Conference Board Employment Trends Index (10 a.m. EDT)

* U.S. 3-year note auction (1 p.m. EDT)

* U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent departs for

three-day Tokyo trip

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Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect

the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is

committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.