Hello, this is Katrina Bishop — usually based in London but writing today from Singapore, where I’ve spent the last two days covering CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE.
A hot topic at the event was trust — or lack of it — in the world today. I asked a number of policymakers and business leaders what they thought should be done about it, and their answers were at times surprising, but always (reassuringly) optimistic.
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan stressed the importance of face-to-face interactions, while DBS CEO Tan Su Shan urged businesses to focus on their “trust moat” with consistency and transparency.
Perhaps my favorite response, though, was from Carol Fong, CEO of CGS International Securities, whose advice was simple: “Just be trusting,” and welcome people — whoever they are — with open arms.
Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (left) speaks with CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick at the CONVERGE LIVE event on April 22, 2026.
CNBC
What you need to know today
Investors — now well accustomed to navigating when (or not) to trust the news — mostly held their nerve overnight after President Donald Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks.
It follows a meeting with top U.S. officials in the White House, which Trump said on Truth Social had gone “very well.”
The temporary truce — which was originally set to expire after 10 days — gives both Israel and Lebanon some breathing room as diplomatic efforts continue.
Oil markets remain jittery, however. The Hormuz Strait remains closed, with Trump on Thursday saying that he had ordered the U.S. Navy “to shoot and kill any boat” laying mines in the strategically important waterway.
International benchmark Brent crude rose 0.41% to $105.5 per barrel in Friday trading, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading 0.08% higher at $95.93.
On Thursday, Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, or IEA, told CNBC CONVERGE LIVE that the world is “facing the biggest energy security threat in history.”
In Europe, benchmarks were called lower this morning, capping off a downbeat week. U.S. futures, meanwhile, were mixed, with Dow futures pointing to a lower open, and S&P and Nasdaq Composite futures in the green.
Asia-Pacific markets were also mixed around lunchtime. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.8% after core inflation in the country accelerated for the first time in five months. Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.15%, while the South Korean Kospi was trading 0.23% lower.
Back in Europe, leaders will meet in Cyprus for the second day on Friday, with the Strait of Hormuz, energy security and the budget top of the agenda. On Thursday, the European Union finally agreed to approve a 90 billion euro ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine.
Also making headlines this morning is DeepSeek, which has released a preview version of its long-awaited open-source V4 large language model. The Chinese artificial intelligence startup shook markets in March 2025 when its R1 reasoning model outperformed U.S. counterparts, despite being much cheaper to build.
— Katrina Bishop
