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On today's podcast:

(1) A frenzied day of earnings reports offered a glimpse at how some of the world’s biggest tech companies are doing in artificial intelligence. The upshot: Alphabet Inc.’s Google is seeing a clear payoff from its AI spending, while Meta Platforms Inc. is lagging behind.

(2) Brent oil rallied to a wartime high after Axios reported that US President Donald Trump is set to receive a briefing on new military options for action in Iran, signalling the potential for fresh escalation in the Middle East.

(3) President Donald Trump said the US is reviewing its troop levels in Germany and will decide soon whether to reduce that number, escalating tensions with a top NATO ally over the war in Iran.
(4) Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged, but revealed a deepening division over the outlook for policy amid increased uncertainty caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

(5) The Bank of England is likely to keep interest rates on hold on Thursday as policymakers play for time amid the febrile standoff between the US and Iran.

(6) Standard Chartered posted record first-quarter earnings that surged past analyst estimates, as record wealth inflows offset precautionary charges linked to escalating tensions in the Middle East.

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