European shares posted a sharp weekly loss on Friday, as investors worried about risks to growth and inflation with energy supplies still severely disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East. The pan-European STOXX 600 index edged down 0.6% on the day, to 610.65, a more ‌than two-week ⁠low. It ⁠logged a weekly decline of 2.5%, snapping a four-week streak of gains. Most regional markets also declined, with Spain’s benchmark index falling 1.1%, while France’s was down 0.8%.

European equities outperformed U.S. markets at the start of the year but have lagged during the war on concerns over the continent’s vulnerability to higher energy prices. “We still see opportunities in sectors that are less sensitive to higher energy prices, such as health care, and in areas supported by secular trends, such as industrials,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, adding ⁠that he ‌did not expect higher energy prices to trigger a recession.

Most sectors traded in the red, with aerospace and defence leading declines with a 3.2% fall. Technology stocks, however, gained 1.5%, helped ⁠by a 4.7% jump in SAP shares after the German software maker beat first-quarter profit estimates on strong growth in its cloud business. Chip stocks advanced with BE Semiconductor Industries up 4.3%, a day after reporting strong order intake and guidance. ASML and ASMI added about 2% each.

Healthcare shares and financials lost 1.7% and 1%, respectively.

Novo Nordisk bucked the trend, adding 5.4% after rival Eli Lilly’s obesity pill trailed prescriptions to Novo’s oral Wegovy.

Among other movers, Tomra tumbled 24% after the Norwegian recycling technology provider missed first-quarter revenue and profit estimates. Swedish technology and industrial group Indutrade fell 15% after reporting ‌first-quarter net sales below analyst expectations. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is expected to travel to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks with the United States, Pakistani government sources said.
Benchmark Brent crude oil futures held above $100 ⁠a barrel .
German business sentiment deteriorated more than expected in April as the Iran war threatens the recovery of Europe’s biggest economy. The European Central Bank meets next week with markets pricing in a 76% chance that policymakers will leave rates unchanged, according to LSEG data. However, traders still expect rate hikes later this year if energy disruptions persist. “With the ECB’s focus on inflation expectations and fears that war-related effects could push companies to pass on costs, we’re likely to see the ECB eventually still wanting to raise rates, which we think they’ll then have to roll back in 2027,” said Luca Bindelli, head of investment strategy at Lombard Odier.

NEW YORK — The New York Times Connections puzzle for Saturday, April 25, 2026, delivered a festive and cleverly layered challenge as puzzle #1049 blended Easter holiday traditions with classic rock music, leaving many players smiling at the satisfying “aha” moments once the categories clicked into place.

The 16-word grid featured an ideal mix of accessible and thoughtful connections that celebrated springtime and musical icons. Players who spotted the holiday theme early gained momentum, while the purple group’s clever wordplay provided the final satisfying twist for rainbow solvers.

Yellow Category (Easiest): Easter Symbols BASKET, BUNNY, CHICK, EGG This straightforward holiday-themed group rewarded players who immediately recognized classic Easter imagery. Many solvers started here, using familiar seasonal associations to secure an early win and build confidence for the remaining categories.

Green Category: Classic Rock Bands KISS, QUEEN, RUSH, PINK The music category caught some off guard at first but delighted rock fans once identified. These legendary bands — KISS, Queen, Rush and Pink Floyd (shortened as PINK in the grid) — represented a strong selection of iconic groups that many players connected through musical knowledge.

Blue Category: Types of Lilies CALLA, DAY, PEACE, WATER This botanical group provided an elegant educational twist. Calla lily, daylily, peace lily and water lily offered a beautiful connection that appealed to solvers with gardening knowledge or those who appreciated nature-themed categories.

Purple Category (Hardest): What “Floyd” Might Refer To FLOYD, MAY, PINK, PUPPET The trickiest group played on different meanings and associations with “Floyd.” Pink Floyd (the band), Floyd Mayweather, Pink Floyd’s puppet (from The Wall), and Floyd the barber from The Andy Griffith Show. This clever, multi-layered category generated the most social media discussion and praise for its creativity.

The puzzle’s balance — one very accessible group, two medium challenges, and one brain-teaser — earned strong reviews from the Connections community. Average solve times hovered around 4-5 guesses for experienced players, with the purple group often requiring the final revelation.

Connections, created by Josh Wardle (the same mind behind Wordle), has become a daily staple alongside the crossword and Wordle. The game presents 16 words that must be sorted into four groups of four, each sharing a common theme. Difficulty levels are color-coded: yellow (easiest), green, blue, and purple (most difficult).

Social media buzzed throughout Saturday morning with shared grids and reactions. On X and Reddit’s r/NYTConnections, users posted partial grids, celebrated rainbow solves, and praised the Easter-rock mashup. Hashtags like #Connections and #NYTConnections trended as players compared strategies and starting words.

Strategy tips for this puzzle included scanning for obvious categories first, such as holiday-related words, then looking for music or nature themes. Strong openers often involved grouping high-frequency associations before tackling punny or obscure links. The Easter group served as an ideal entry point for many.

The April 25 puzzle continued a strong week for Connections, following several well-received entries that balanced fun and challenge. NYT editors carefully curate the word list to avoid overly obscure terms while maintaining replay value and educational appeal.

For those who missed today’s solution, the official New York Times Connections Companion page offers post-solve discussion and hints without spoiling future puzzles. The game resets daily at midnight, ensuring fresh challenges for millions of global players.

Connections’ popularity stems from its perfect mix of accessibility and depth. Casual solvers enjoy the dopamine hit of cracking categories, while competitive players track statistics like perfect solves and streak lengths. The shareable grid format turns individual victories into social conversations.

Educational benefits abound. Regular play expands vocabulary, sharpens pattern recognition, and encourages lateral thinking. Teachers have incorporated it into classrooms, and families report solving together as a morning or evening ritual.

Looking ahead, tomorrow’s puzzle promises another engaging round. While specific words remain secret until release, players can expect the usual mix of pop culture, science, wordplay, and everyday objects that has kept Connections thriving since its launch.

Whether you solved #1049 in three guesses or needed every attempt, today’s Easter-to-rock journey exemplified why Connections remains a beloved daily habit. The satisfaction of linking seemingly random words into coherent themes keeps millions returning, one colorful category at a time.

For anyone still stuck or wanting to relive the solve, the categories above provide the complete April 25, 2026, solution. Share your grid, celebrate your rainbow, or commiserate with fellow players — the Connections community thrives on both triumphs and near-misses.

Oil prices whipsawed in volatile trade on Friday, but were higher on the week, as traders weighed supply disruptions against the potential restart of peace talks between the U.S. and Iran that could help limit those disruptions.

Brent crude futures settled at $105.33 a barrel, rising 26 cents, or about 0.3%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures settled at $94.40 a barrel, falling $1.45, or 1.5%.

For the week, Brent gained about 16% and WTI ‌rose nearly 13%.

Crude ⁠futures gave ⁠back early gains after Reuters reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was expected to arrive in Islamabad late on Friday to discuss proposals for resuming peace talks with the U.S. after talks collapsed earlier this week.

Prices fell further after CNN reported that U.S. President Donald Trump was sending special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for talks with Iran’s foreign minister.

Later, Trump told Reuters that Iran plans to make an offer aimed at satisfying U.S. demands.
“They’re making an offer and we’ll have to see,” Trump ⁠said. Early in ‌the session, prices rose 2% on fears of renewed military escalation in the region, the day after Iran released footage of commandos boarding a cargo ship in the Strait ⁠of Hormuz, and as progress stalled on re-opening the vital waterway.

“Traders are liquidating length ahead of an unusually unpredictable weekend and will readjust their positions Sunday night based on Iranian developments,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.

Navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried about a fifth of global oil output, remains effectively blocked. Iran’s capture of two cargo ships highlighted Washington’s difficulties in trying to control the passage.

Only five ships, including an Iranian oil products tanker, have moved through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, ‌shipping data showed.

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran may have loaded up its weaponry “a little bit” during a two-week ceasefire, but added that the U.S. military could eliminate it in a single day. On Wednesday, ⁠he said he would indefinitely extend the ceasefire to allow for further peace talks.

“As tensions have heightened this week since no meeting between the U.S. and Iran developed, an open-ended ceasefire will likely coincide with a continued conflict,” said oil consultant Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates.

“This favors even higher prices especially in Brent and diesel, the more sensitive markets to a continuation of this war.”

Haitong Futures said in a report that if peace talks fail to make progress by the end of April and fighting resumes, oil prices could climb to new highs for the year.

India’s equity gauges ended the week with losses of around 2% as optimism about a truce between the US and Iran faded with the Strait of Hormuz staying shut and both sides engaging in harsh rhetoric.

The main indices fell 1% on Friday amid a selloff in IT companies. While declines offer opportunities, investors should be cautious and deploy funds in a gradual manner, analysts said. The NSE Nifty slid 1.1% or 275.10 points to 23,897.95. The BSE Sensex finished at 76,664.21, down 1.3% or 999.79 points. In the past week, both indices dropped 1.9% and 2.3%, respectively, after logging two weeks of gains.

Spike in Oil Prices

“The week began with optimism of negotiations yielding results but that did not materialise and crude oil prices rose higher this week,” said Christy Mathai, fund manager, Quantum Mutual Fund.To be sure, ceasefires in both Iran and Lebanon have been extended but negotiating teams from Washington DC and Tehran haven’t yet travelled to Islamabad for talks.

Mathai said oil prices are expected to remain elevated, and this could lead to earnings being cut for more than one quarter. Markets closed ahead of Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s biggest company by market value, announcing earnings.
Elsewhere in Asia, Taiwan gained 3.2% while Japan and Hong Kong rose 1% and 0.2%, respectively. South Korea remained flat and China moved 0.3% lower.
Brent crude futures spiked nearly 17% this week after three weeks of declines. On Friday, it rose as much as $107.5.
“The guidance by IT companies that announced results were lower than estimates which also dampened prospects further,” said Mathai.

All sectoral indices closed lower on Friday. The Nifty IT tumbled 5.3%, dragged down by Infosys and Persistent Systems. The Nifty Pharma fell 1.8% while the Nifty Healthcare and Realty indices slipped around 1.5%.

VIX JUMPS 6%

The Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 6% to 19.7 as traders anticipate elevated risk in the near term. “Nifty is likely to face a major hurdle at its 200-day exponential moving average of 24,800 as sentiment remains cautious,” said Somil Mehta, head of retail research, Mirae Asset Sharekhan.

Since the trend remains bearish and the Nifty could retest the levels of 22,200, declines are likely to offer buying opportunities for long-term investors, he said.

Out of 4,389 shares that moved on the BSE, 1,241 advanced and 3,000 declined.

The Nifty Mid-cap 150 index and the Small-cap 250 index declined 1% and 1.1%. In the past week, both indices ended 0.8% and 0.2% lower respectively.

Mathai said that while the indefinite Iran ceasefire is good sign, investors were anticipating the situation to improve after the upmove in the past few weeks.

At home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 8,827.87 crore Friday. Their domestic counterparts bought shares worth Rs 4,700.71 crore. So far in April, global investors have dumped shares worth Rs a net 55,126.72 crore.

“While prices are attractive, investors are advised to remain cautious and invest in a gradual and calibrated manner as earnings are expected to moderate for the next couple of quarters and the supply shock due to the war could increase in the near term,” said Mathai.

Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) announced on Friday that it has infused ₹1,075 crore into its India-based non-banking finance arm, SMFG India Credit (SMICC), through a rights issue.

The Japanese parent had infused ₹3,000 crore in SMICC via a rights issue in December 2024.

SMICC’s assets under management (AUM) stood at ₹64,100 crore as of December 31, 2025, while disbursements stood at ₹39,500 crore.
SMFG became a major shareholder in Yes Bank, purchasing a 20% stake in May 2025 for $1.6 billion and increasing its holding to 24.2% in September 2025.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday proposed a revamp of the way stockbrokers calculate their variable net worth, seeking to align capital requirements with actual business risks and client scale. Currently, variable net worth is linked to 10% of the average daily client cash balance retained by brokers.

However, with the introduction of an upstreaming framework under which clients’ funds are up-streamed by brokers to clearing corporations, there is a minimal amount of cash balance of clients which is retained by a stockbroker, the regulator said.

“In view of the same, the calculation based on the availability of funds with stockbrokers may not be an effective way of calculating variable net worth,” Sebi said in a discussion paper.

The regulator has proposed a more comprehensive, risk-based approach. It said, variable net worth would be computed as an aggregate of two key components: a portion linked to client funds and another tied to the size of the client base.

The first component would require brokers to maintain 10% of the average credit balance of all clients over the previous six months. The second introduces slabs based on the number of active clients. Brokers with 10,000 to 50,000 direct clients would need an additional ₹50 lakh, with further increments for every additional 50,000 clients.
Besides, graded requirements have been proposed for clients onboarded through authorised persons.