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

columnist for Reuters.)

By Anna Szymanski

May 4 (Reuters) - What matters in U.S. and global

markets today

By Anna Szymanski, Editor-in-Charge, Reuters Open Interest

Oil prices spiked by around 5% on Monday after Iran said it had

turned back a U.S. warship trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz,

though the U.S. denied Iranian reports it had been struck by

missiles. That came after President Donald Trump said the U.S.

would begin assisting ships stranded in the strait.

Meanwhile, the yen briefly jumped against the dollar again, with

traders on the lookout for further buying from Japan's Ministry

of Finance after suspected intervention last week.

I'll get into that and more below.

But first, listen to the latest episode of the Morning Bid daily

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STRAIT TALK

Before the reports of a U.S. warship being turned back from the

Strait of Hormuz on Monday, President Trump had on Sunday

described a plan to free stranded vessels in the strait as a

"humanitarian gesture". He left the mechanics of the operation

vague, but U.S. Central Command gave a sense of its scale,

saying it would provide 15,000 military personnel and more than

100 land and sea-based aircraft.

Oil markets spiked on the reported U.S. warship incident, with

Brent trading at around $112/bbl and WTI at around $106/bbl.

Iran had previously warned that any foreign armed forces

entering the strait would be attacked.

Meanwhile, Iranian state media have reported that Washington has

sent a response, via Pakistan, to Tehran's 14-point proposal to

end the war - a plan that Trump said on Saturday he was likely

to reject.

The lack of progress on a peace deal - with a key sticking point

being the timing of nuclear talks - means the broader stalemate

and disruption in the Gulf look set to continue for now.

Elsewhere, the yen strengthened abruptly again on Monday,

touching 155.7 against the dollar before paring its gains.

That's fuelling speculation of another round of Japanese buying

after last week's apparent intervention, which may have seen the

authorities spend up to $35 billion to prop up the flagging

currency.

Asian stocks rose on Monday, led by South Korea's tech-heavy

KOSPI, which surged nearly 5%. Chipmaker SK Hynix saw its shares

rally more than 12% on U.S. tech firms' rising AI capex.

Elsewhere, Japanese markets are closed until Wednesday for the

Golden Week holiday.

European shares edged lower after the open, with automakers

coming under pressure after President Trump said on Friday that

he would hike auto tariffs again.

It's another important week for macro data and earnings. Friday

will bring the latest U.S. non-farm payrolls report, with median

forecasts seeing growth of 60,000 jobs in April, well under

March's 178,000. The report is unlikely to revive hopes for rate

cuts this year, though, after the Fed's hawkish tilt last week -

as more focus is now back on the inflation side of the central

bank's dual mandate.

On the earnings front, companies due to report this week

include tech heavyweights AMD, Super Micro Computer and

Palantir.

Elsewhere, budget airline Spirit Airlines ceased operations

over the weekend after failing to secure creditor support for a

U.S. government bailout plan.

The airline's collapse, which follows a doubling of fuel costs

amid the Iran war, removes one of the few air travel options

available to low-income Americans - and could be viewed as the

first corporate casualty of the Iran war.

Chart of the day

Oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped

precipitously since the start of the war. A handful of ships

have transited the strait in recent days and weeks, though

average flows remain well below normal.

Today's events to watch

* U.S. March manufacturers' new orders (10 a.m. EDT)

* New York Fed's John Williams speaks

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

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