Oil Prices Climb And Global Markets Decline As U.S. Prepares For Blockade Of Iran’s Ports
TOKYO (AP) — Oil prices continued their rise and global markets were mostly lower Monday as the U.S. military prepared to block traffic to and from Iranian ports. Strait of HormuzIt is where most shipping has been stopped by Iran since the beginning of the war.
US President Donald Trump announces planned blockade US-Iran ceasefire talks The blockade in Pakistan ended without an agreement, and the US military said the blockade covering all Iranian ports would begin at 10 a.m. EDT on Monday, or 5:30 p.m. in Iran.
Oil prices have been increasing because shipping in the Bosphorus has been stopped since the end of February. Brent crude, the international standard, rose from about $70 a barrel before the war to above $119 at times in late February.
On Monday, benchmark U.S. crude rose $7.12, or 7.4%, to $103.69 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose $7.04, or 7.4%, to $102.24 a barrel.
France’s CAC 40 index decreased by 1.0% to 8,174.44 points in early trading, while the German DAX index decreased by 1.0% to 23,568.65 points. In England, the FTSE 100 index fell by 0.4 percent to 10,561.47 points. US stocks will head lower, with Dow futures down 0.5% at 47,911.00. S&P 500 futures fell 0.6% to 6,815.50.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 lost 0.7% to finish at 56,502.77. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.4% to 8,926.00 points. South Korea’s Kospi index decreased by 0.9% to 5,808.62 points. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index lost 0.9 percent to 25,660.85 points, while the Shanghai Composite index increased by less than 0.1 percent to 3,988.56 points.
Analysts said global trade is expected to remain turbulent for some time.
“The outcome of the talks was not really what people had hoped for, that’s for sure,” Astris Advisory Japan Managing Director and Head of Strategy Neil Newman said in Hong Kong.
“As we stand here right now, it doesn’t look good. Of course, oil prices are a big concern.”
In foreign exchange trading, the US dollar rose from 159.25 yen to 159.65 Japanese yen. The cost of the euro fell from $1.1729 to $1.1696.
Associated Press reporter Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.
