Take Two: Renewed Middle East hostilities

What do you need to know? Renewed Middle East hostilities have driven energy prices higher once again. With both the US and Iran engulfed in fresh military strikes, oil prices rose to a one-month high, while markets felt the brunt of the collapsed truce. Later in the week, concerns emerged over the continued momentum and exuberance around artificial intelligence stocks. Over the week to Thursday’s close, the MSCI World index, the US’s blue-chip S&P 500 and MSCI Europe were flat, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq and Japan’s Nikkei each fell 1%.1 Around the world US inflation fell further than anticipated in…