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U.S. Threatens Harsher Economic Pressure on Iran as Mediators Rush to Secure Second Ceasefire Talks

  A woman walks past a digital screen displaying news of US-Iran peace talks along a road in Islamabad on April 10, 2026 The United States has warned it will step up economic pressure on Iran while mediators race to arrange a second round of ceasefire talks before the fragile truce expires on April 22, 2026 — a standoff that risks higher oil prices, tighter global markets, and direct costs for Canadian households and investors.   Background and diplomatic timeline A two‑week ceasefire that paused nearly seven weeks of fighting was brokered to create a narrow diplomatic window for talks between Washington and Tehran. The first round of face‑to‑face negotiations in Islamabad lasted more than 20 hours but ended without an agreement, leaving the truce set to expire on April 22, 2026 unless mediators secure a follow‑up session.  Mediators led by Pakistan, with active roles from Turkey, Egypt and other regional actors, have been shuttling between capitals to bridge the remaini...

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Stock Market Edges Higher Ahead of Christmas Break

                                          

US stocks looked set for a mostly muted open to a final, shortened trading session before the Christmas holiday. Futures tied to the S&P 500 (ES=F) were up 0.1%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq (NQ=F) rose 0.2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) hugged the flatline.

Wall Street is looking to enter its Christmas break rejuvenated, after tech stocks including AI chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) led the march higher on Monday. Markets close at 1 p.m. ET today and are off tomorrow for Christmas Day. Sizable gains on Friday and Monday have put the indexes back on the path toward their record highs, from which they took a Fed-fueled nosedive last week.

Wall Street is reassessing the path of interest rates next year as it grapples with the reality that the Fed mostly pulled off a so-called soft landing – but couldn’t fully shake the US economy’s inflation problem. According to the CME FedWatch tool, most bets are on two coming holds at the Fed’s January and March meetings, followed by a toss-up in May.

Meanwhile, many eyes continue to be trained on Nvidia, which saw a more than 3.5% gain on Monday. As Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley writes, 2024 was Nvidia’s year, with the stock up some 180%. But 2025 could contain plenty of challenges.



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