Oil prices rose while equities were mixed as investors assessed Donald Trump’s latest deadline for Iran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz or be “decimated”. reports Reuters.
Both main oil contracts rose, with West Texas Intermediate topping $115 — its highest in a month — and Brent sitting around $111.
Equity markets fluctuated, with Tokyo, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta down while Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington and Taipei rose. Hong Kong was closed for a holiday.
That followed a positive start to the week on Wall Street.
“Financial markets are oscillating in a narrow, uneasy range as traders sized up the countdown to Donald Trump’s Iran deadline,” wrote Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.
“Tentative ceasefire optics (were) offering brief relief but never fully offsetting the lingering risk of escalation,” he added.
“For now, the rhetoric has tightened, the threats sharpened, and yet the market is not capitulating, conditioned by repetition to expect de-escalation just before the edge.
“Traders are no longer reacting to what is said, but to when it is usually walked back.”
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.
