Oil prices rose about US$1 in early trade on Thursday, rebounding from the previous day's sharp losses, as investors weighed the prospects of a Middle East peace deal succeeding.

Sens. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., have introduced the Connected Vehicle Security Act of 2026 to ban Chinese vehicles and connected components from the U.S. market. The bill would prohibit the import, sale and operation of vehicles manufactured in China or any other country of concern, and ban the use of Chinese-developed connected vehicle technologies, such as software and data systems, on U.S. roads.

The European Union has called on the United States to quickly restore tariff levels agreed in last year’s EU-US trade deal, the European Commission said Tuesday.

A recent jump in electric car sales in the UK is likely to be “tempered” by worries over rising inflation and energy prices caused by the Iran war, a leading industry body has warned.

The latest data on the U.S. trade balance has been released, revealing a mixed picture for the nation’s economic standing. The trade balance, which measures the difference in value between imported and exported goods and services, showed an actual figure of -$60.30 billion. This figure is a crucial indicator of economic health, as a positive balance suggests more goods and services are being exported than imported.

Activity in the key U.S. services expanded at a slower rate in April, while a gauge of prices paid by these businesses held steady but is anticipated to speed up as an energy shock from the Iran war trickles through the wider economy.