India, April 20 -- A strategic waterway closure and a stalled diplomatic process have combined to produce the kind of market session that moves multiple asset classes in the same hour. The Strait of Hormuz is closed again, and Iran's refusal to participate in a second round of peace negotiations following the U.S. military's seizure of an Iranian cargo ship has removed near-term de-escalation as a scenario markets can price on.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.3 percent to 98.485, touching a one-week high as capital moved toward safe-haven assets. The euro fell 0.3 percent to $1.1731 and the British pound dropped a matching 0.3 percent to $1.3480, a uniform retreat across major currencies that suggests macro repositioning rather than idiosyn...