Oil Prices Bounce Back On Iran War Escalation

A graphic illustration of barrels of crude oil   Oil prices surged Monday on a re-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East war after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz at the weekend, just a day after reopening it, citing the United States’ blockade of its ports. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672569656851-0"); }); However, lingering hopes that a deal to end the seven-week crisis continued to support equities, even as Tehran said it was not currently planning to attend peace talks. Crude plunged while US and European stocks rallied Friday after the Islamic Republic said it would again allow ships to pass through the waterway — through which a fifth of global oil and LNG gas usually passes — citing the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. President Donald Trump told AFP that “we’re very close to having a deal”, adding that there were “no sticking points at all” left with Tehran, though Iran quickly pushed back, saying its stockpile of enriched uranium would not be transferred “anywhere”. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate dived more than 11 per cent, and Brent shed nine per cent. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672569913499-0"); }); But both contracts jumped sharply Monday, days before the end of a two-week ceasefire, owing to the ongoing US blockade and after an American destroyer fired on and seized an Iranian ship that tried to evade it. Tehran warned it would retaliate. The blockade of Iranian ports has been a significant sticking point in negotiations between the two countries, and state broadcaster IRIB cited Iranian sources as saying “there are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks” in Pakistan. The Fars and Tasnim news agencies had earlier cited anonymous sources as saying “the overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive”, adding that lifting the US blockade was a precondition for negotiations. WTI jumped more than seven percent at one point, while Brent piled on more than six percent. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672587799169-0"); }); There has so far been only a single, 21-hour negotiating session held in Islamabad on April 11 that ended inconclusively, though groundwork for fresh talks continued afterwards. “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it,” Trump said in a social media post Sunday, while also renewing his threats against Iran’s infrastructure if a deal is not made. But Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that any attempt to pass through the strait without permission “will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted”. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the blockade was “a violation” of the ceasefire. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672587060870-0"); }); Still, equities rose, tracking another record close for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in New York. Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei led the gains thanks to a resumption of the tech rally that characterised markets before the war began on February 28. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Wellington, and Manila were also well up. The dollar, which has been a key safe haven during the crisis and fell sharply Friday, advanced against its main peers. Chris Weston at Pepperstone said traders were assessing “whether the ceasefire can be salvaged through this week’s diplomatic talks, with recalibration on the probability of military escalation”. “Trump’s weekend social media posts raised the prospect of military re-escalation, though given the bar for this response is now set higher, some viewed this as a pure hawkish negotiating tactic ahead of this week’s diplomatic talks,” he added. “Market participants understand that the path to a formal agreement (is) unlikely to be linear and remains vulnerable to sudden changes, so market players won’t be wholly surprised by a sentiment shift. “However, without a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, the ceasefire remained fragile.”   READ ALSO: Trump Again Threatens To Destroy Iran Infrastructure If No Deal Reached – Key Figures Around 0230 GMT West Texas Intermediate: UP 5.3 per cent at $88.31 a barrel Brent North Sea Crude: UP 4.8 per cent at $94.67 a barrel Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.0 per cent at 59,045.45 (break) Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 per cent at 26,281.92 Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.6 per cent at 4,073.76 Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1757 from $1.1776 on Friday Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3500 from $1.3530 Dollar/yen: UP at 158.89 yen from 158.49 yen Euro/pound: UP at 87.09 pence from 87.02 pence New York – Dow Jones: UP 1.8 per cent at 49,447.43 (close) London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 per cent at 10,667.63 (close)       AFP Join Our Whatsapp Channel To join: Simply click on the link below & turn on notifications to get the latest updates Subscribe to Our Newsletter In This Article: Markets World More Stories Stocks Rally, Oil Extends Losses As Trump Fans Fresh Peace Hopes Dollar Slips On Hopes Of US-Iran Resolution Stocks Rally, Crude Drops On Lingering Hope For Peace Deal /* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * / var disqus_shortname = 'channelstelevision'; // Required - Replace example with your forum shortname / * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * */ (function() { var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true; dsq.src = '//' + disqus_shortname + '.disqus.com/embed.js'; (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq); })(); Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

SOURCE: https://www.channelstv.com/2026/04/20/oil-prices-bounce-back-on-iran-war-escalation/