CNBC Daily Open: Iran vows 'eye-for-eye' in energy attack escalation

A satellite image of Ras Laffan Industrial City, an energy hub for LNG, gas-to-liquids and Helium, which is located north of Doha, Qatar.

Copernicus Sentinel 2017 | Orbital Horizon | Gallo Images | Getty Images

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			Taken from CNBC’s Daily Open, our international markets newsletter — Subscribe today_

Hello, this is Leonie Kidd writing to you from London. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

_The last 12 hours have been marked by a major escalation in attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East. A sharpening in rhetoric from Tel Aviv, the White House and Tehran is doing nothing to calm the situation. _

_Central bankers are staying cautious, with the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan holding rates steady, while today’s decisions from the Bank of England and European Central Bank are also expected to be uneventful amid concerns of inflation driving higher. _

What you need to know today

Strikes on core energy sites on both sides of the Iran war have caused significant market volatility. Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field — which U.S. President Donald Trump said he had no prior knowledge of — prompted a swift retaliation from Tehran, which launched missile strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas terminal. Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said an “eye for an eye” approach is now in effect, as “a new level of conflict has begun.”

President Trump warned that if Iran continued targeting Qatar’s energy facilities, America would “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field.”

Europe has called for calm, with French President Emmanuel Macron using a post on X.com to call for “a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure,” while Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called the latest action “a crisis of the gravest order.”

Stocks in Asia followed Wall Street into the red, after the Dow lost over 750 points overnight, touching a new closing low for the year. European stocks look set to open sharply lower.

Overnight, the Federal Reserve held rates steady. Policy makers signaled inflation concerns and uncertain impacts amid the Iran war, dashing hopes for swift cuts.

Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he will continue to serve as head of the central bank if his nominated successor, Kevin Warsh, is not confirmed by the time his term is up in May.

The Fed wasn’t the only bank to take the “wait and see approach.” The Bank of Japan also opted to keep rates on hold at 0.75% as expected, citing “upward pressure” from rising energy prices. The Bank of England and European Central Bank will both make policy decisions later today.

_— Leonie Kidd _

And finally…

Gold loans are thriving in India — and attracting global investors

Indian households are sitting on a mountain of gold.

They own more than 34,000 tons of the yellow metal, as per a Morgan Stanley report from October, with Kotak Mahindra Bank pegging its value at about $5 trillion.

That vast reserve is now powering one of the fastest-growing lending segments in India. As other forms of consumer credit slow, gold loans have surged, driven by tighter banking rules for unsecured loans, a sharp rally in global gold prices, improved access, and perhaps rising financial stress among households.

— Priyanka Salve

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