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

columnist for Reuters.)

By Mike Dolan

April 2 -

What matters in U.S. and global markets today

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

Market hopes that President Trump might signal an immediate end

to the Iran conflict were dashed overnight after his prime-time

address talked of another two to three weeks of war and offered

few new details.

Another risk-off turn was the result, with oil prices pushing

back higher, global stocks retreating and the dollar edging up.

I'll get into that and more below.

But first, check out my latest column on the real economy's

apparent resilience to the oil shock so far - plus a closer read

of the latest macro releases.

And listen to the latest episode of the Morning Bid daily

podcast. Subscribe to hear Reuters journalists discuss the

biggest news in markets and finance seven days a week.

NO EASTER TRUCE

Brent crude climbed back to almost $109 per barrel and WTI to

just over $107 on Thursday after Trump's televised speech, in

which he said the U.S. military had nearly achieved its goals in

Iran but would "hit them" over the coming weeks and "bring them

back to the Stone Ages".

Although Trump noted that "discussions are ongoing", he gave

little detail on access through the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Asian stock indexes ended the session in negative territory,

with Japan's Nikkei down 2.4% and South Korea's Kospi sliding

4.7%. European shares slid by around 1% after the open, while

U.S. futures were in the red before the bell.

Meantime, the dollar index edged up after two days of losses,

regaining the 100 level as safe-haven demand reemerged, while

gold eased back from the two-week highs it touched on

Wednesday's glimmers of hope. U.S. Treasuries were also down.

Investors are heading into a long Easter weekend with a degree

of nervousness about what happens next. Adding to the tension,

Good Friday will see the release of the March U.S. employment

report, which will give another read on any real-economy impact.

For now, though, early prints of March economic data point to

less of a shock than many expected. ISM's manufacturing survey

ticked higher, U.S. consumer confidence rose unexpectedly,

private sector payrolls beat forecasts and full-year corporate

earnings growth estimates are actually increasing.

Maybe the hit will come with a delay, but for now the

picture is one of steep input price rises and resilient activity

- which will keep central banks on their toes.

Elsewhere, as NASA heads back around the moon for the first time

in half a century, Elon Musk's SpaceX finally filed for an

initial public offering - which could become the largest in

history, and a test of investor appetite for big-ticket risk

assets against an unsettled market backdrop.

Meantime, Amazon is in talks to buy satellite telecom group

Globalstar as it ramps up efforts to build its own

low-earth-orbit satellite business to rival SpaceX's Starlink,

the Financial Times reported.

Chart of the day

Air travel in and out of the United Arab Emirates is only

slowly recovering from the initial shock of the Iran war, with

Trump indicating overnight that there would likely be two to

three weeks more of the conflict.

Today's events to watch

* U.S. weekly jobless claims (8:30 a.m. EDT), February trade

balance (8:30 a.m. EDT)

* Dallas Fed's Lorie Logan speaks (10:15 a.m. EDT)

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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.