(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 14 apr - European shares closed higher amid reports the the US and Iran are currently discussing the possibility of a second round of negotiations to firm up their fragile two-week ceasefire.

US president Donald Trump said that the 'right people' in Iran still want to make a deal to resolve the conflict with the US. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi meanwhile signalled progress had been made on many issues in talks between the two countries.

The comments come on the second day of the US's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that handled roughly a fifth of global energy flows before the conflict.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund lowered its outlook for global economic growth this year to 3.1%, 0.2% less than it forecast in January, and warned that the global economy could sink into recession if the oil shock from the Iran war is severe. But in a worst case scenario where oil, gas and food prices rise and stay high this year and next global growth could fall below 2% in 2026.

Absent the Middle East conflict, the IMF said it would have upgraded its growth outlook by 0.1% to 3.4%.

The London FTSE 100 closed up 0.25% at 10,609.06 points, the Frankfurt DAX rose 1.22% at 24,038.99 points, the Paris CAC 40 gained 1.13% at 8,327.86 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB added 1.36% at 48,175.65 points, and in Madrid the IBEX.

35 closed 1.46% higher at 18,287.54 points.

(RADIOCOR) 14-04-26 17:58:27 (0671) 5 NNNN