Pakistan defense minister Khawaja Asif told Bloomberg that “things are shaping up again in favor of a peace arrangement or a deal,” on Hormuz shipping transits. That's a sharp turnabout after yesterday Trump escalated rhetoric and called for US reparations in response to a similar Iranian call. The countries are close to “some sort of arrangement” over the Strait of Hormuz he said. “The signals in the last two to three days are that we are close to some sort of an arrangement,” he added. WTI crude oil rose as high as $84.61 earlier but has turned lower on the report and is now down 44-cents to $81.69.