Oil prices jumped Tuesday and stocks fell after US-Israeli strikes on the key Iranian oil export terminal of Kharg island, with investors bracing for US President Donald Trump’s looming deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face devastating attacks.
The US crude benchmark, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in May, jumped more than two percent to just under $115 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude, for delivery in June, gained half a percent to more than $110 a barrel.
The contracts had been even higher shortly after reports of the attacks on Kharg, but gave back some of those gains on reports that the targets had been military sites, not energy infrastructure.
The three main US stock indexes opened lower, and Paris, London and Frankfurt were lower in mid-afternoon European trading. The dollar was little changed against most of its peers.“The conflict in the Middle East is one long deadline after another and there is a constant stream of promises to end the war coming out of the White House,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
“Ultimately no one knows that the president will do next, and this is causing tensions to remain high in financial markets,” she said.
Trump has warned Tehran that unless it allows free passage through the strait by midnight GMT, the United States will unleash what he called the “complete demolition” of Iran’s critical infrastructure.He doubled down on that Tuesday, warning that “a whole civilization will die” if Iran does not accept US war demands, though he added that he “hopes” that did not happen.
“The market has some hope that it won’t come to that either, yet that is running in tandem with a fear that it just might,” said Patrick J. O’Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com.
“Today is a hand-wringing day if there ever was one,” he added.
Iran has effectively blocked the waterway since the start of the war on February 28, driving up global oil and gas prices, as around one‑fifth of the world’s oil normally flows through the strait
Iran showed no sign of backing down, with its Revolutionary Guard warning that it will destroy energy installations across the Gulf if US attacks cross a “red line”.
The hit to fuel supplies from the Middle East has forced governments around the world to unveil economic support measures amid fears of another spike in inflation.
On Tuesday, the Philippines said its inflation jumped to a forecast-topping 4.1 percent in March, the highest level in nearly two years.
