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Thursday, 30 July 2026

Markets Brief

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Oil prices jump over 5% after Trump suggests ceasefire with Iran has ended following fresh US strikes – as it happened

Brent crude spikes to a daily high of $79.26, gas prices rise, stock markets slide and government bond yields surge on inflation and rate hike fears

Summer holiday bookings have bounced back recently after the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East, the package holiday operator Jet2 has said.

The company, which flies about 20 million people every year, said its summer bookings are up by 7.1% compared with this time last year and the average load factor – which measures its available seating capacity filled with paying passengers – is up 1.2 percentage points.

There is still a massive amount of people who want to go away. But they have delayed their purchase because they wanted to see what happened with the conflict.

The market is now in good shape, and consumers are desperate to go away and perhaps sleep in a room with air conditioning.

Turkey, Cyprus, eastern Greek islands, Bulgaria and parts of north Africa have rebounded the most in percentage terms, but all destinations have increased.

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