Sri Lanka, April 2 -- Stock markets surged and oil plunged below US$100 a barrel after President Donald Trump suggested the US would end its attack on Iran in two to three weeks.

UK borrowing costs also fell sharply as fears of Bank of England interest rate hikes were pared back. In London, the FTSE 100 was up by nearly 190 points or 1.9 percent in early trading - though the gains later eased - while Germany's Dax shot nearly 3 percent higher and France's Cac 40 more than 2 percent.

It followed sharp rallies in Asia overnight with South Korea's Kospi adding 8 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei up 5 percent.

Last night on Wall Street the S&P 500 jumped 2.9 percent, the Dow Jones by 2.5 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq by 3.8 percent. Meanwhile...