Oil prices have surpassed $95 per barrel as tensions intensified in the Middle East, Reuters reports.

Brent crude prices were last up around 3 per cent and touched their highest in six weeks on concerns about supply disruptions.

That came after four oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea following threats of attack from Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, dampening hopes that the end to the recent spike in tensions could be imminent.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed, while the S&P 500 fell 0.1pc and the Nasdaq Composite dropped about 0.4pc.