Oilprices pushed higher while stocks dropped on Thursday as investors tracked developments on the sixth day of the Middle East war.
An equity market rebound petered out after Asian markets closed, with European exchanges down in afternoon trading and Wall Street retreating at the opening of New York trading.
Global markets have been thrown into turmoil since the United States and Israel began strikes against Iran on Saturday, killing its supreme leader and sparking retaliatory attacks across the Gulf.
Tehran also effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas travel, sending prices soaring.
While oil and gas prices dipped on Wednesday, they pushed higher on Thursday.
Brent crude, the main international contract, climbed 3.5 percent. WTI, the main US crude contract, rose 4.5 percent.
Brent has risen more than 16 percent since Friday, stoking fears of a fresh spike in inflation and dealing a blow to hopes for lower interest rates.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said the jump in oil prices was “spurred by unconfirmed reports that Iran struck a tanker off the coast ofIraqand the knowingness that activity through the Strait of Hormuz is still mostly at a standstill.”
Iran said it had hit an oil tanker in the Gulf with a missile on Thursday, setting the vessel on fire. The incident has yet to be independently confirmed.
The war has touched as far afield as the Sri Lankan coast, where a US submarine torpedoed an Iranian warship, and Azerbaijan, which threatened retaliation after a drone hit an airport.
Source: Insider Paper
