European Stocks Close Sharply Lower in Wednesday Trading; Oil Prices Spike as US-Iran War Reignites

The European stock markets closed sharply lower in Wednesday trading after fighting between the US and Iran resumed, causing oil prices to spike more than 7%. US President Donald Trump said Wednesday the US will probably bomb Iran again after declaring Tuesday that the ceasefire was over following Iran's attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, which is apparently closed to sea traffic again. The Stoxx Europe dropped 1.7%, Germany's DAX shed 2.3%, the FTSE 100 fell 1.6%, France's CAC lost 2.3%, and the Swiss Market Index was 1.4% lower. And in corporate news, AstraZeneca has signed a deal worth up to $2.1 billion with Sino Biopharmaceutical's unit, Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical, for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of Chia Tai Tianqing's chronic respiratory disease drug candidate TQC3721, Sino Biopharmaceutical said Wednesday. The deal stipulates that Chia Tai Tianqing will receive an upfront payment of $200 million to grant AstraZeneca an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize TQC3721 outside China, Sino said. Meanwhile, Astrazeneca and Daiichi Sankyo are in advanced talks with England's drug pricing regulator to.