Markets & Rates: Wall Street pushed to fresh records as oil slid and investors looked past Iran-driven uncertainty, while U.S. banks reported 1Q profits up 3.6% with capital and liquidity still strong, even as “paper” losses rose. Central Banks: South Africa faces a likely SARB rate hike as inflation hits a 19-month high and households’ debt burden worsens; South Korea’s central bank held rates but signaled a coming tightening cycle, lifting its 2026 growth forecast to 2.6%. NZ Economy & Budget: New Zealand’s Budget 2026 targets an earlier return to surplus, but economists warn forecasts may be optimistic amid Iran-linked inflation risks; the RBNZ also kept the OCR on hold while internal votes leaned toward hikes. Geopolitics & Energy: The Iran conflict remains the key macro swing factor, with lawmakers in the Philippines urging scrutiny of DOE/ERC rules amid power-cost and outage concerns. Business & Deals: Futurum Group bought Aptiviti/ETR to boost predictive tech-spend forecasting; Sanofi’s venglustat won priority review in the U.S. for type 3 Gaucher disease. Industry Outlook: Multiple market-forecast releases highlighted growth in automation, inspection robots, UPS systems, and virtual store design, reflecting continued capex focus on efficiency and resilience.