Markets were stable on Wednesday amid continuing attacks on Iran and Iranian retaliatory strikes targeted at Israel and American allies in the region.
Investors across the world are keenly focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that separates the world’s biggest oil and natural gas producers from their customers. The strait carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and a significant amount of natural gas.
Traffic through the strait has been effectively halted because of the risk that vessels could be attacked. On Tuesday, the U.S. military said its forces had attacked 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the strait. Trump administration officials have suggested the possibility of naval escorts for commercial vessels to mitigate the danger.
Here is the latest on how some crucial markets are reacting to the conflict in the Middle East.
Gasoline rises for 11th day.
Gas prices rose for the 11th consecutive day on Wednesday, jumping to a national average of $3.58 a gallon even as oil prices retreated from their highs, according to the AAA motor club. The increase has raised the cost for drivers 20 percent.
With the war in its second week, drivers across the country are reeling at the added expense. Gas prices don’t move in lock step with crude, usually trailing increases or drops by a few days.
Diesel prices have increased even more quickly and stood at $4.83 on Wednesday, up 28 percent since the start of the war.
Oil pushes higher.
Oil was up about over 2 percent on Wednesday.
The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, was trading at nearly $90 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, was at $85 a barrel.
Oil markets have been on a convulsive path since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
On Monday, the price of Brent spiked to nearly $120 a barrel as traders feared long-lasting cuts in supplies. Then, President Trump said publicly that he believed the war with Iran was “very far ahead of schedule,” and the oil price pulled back drastically.
Stocks making nominal gains.
Stocks in Asia, where countries import vast quantities of oil and gas, were mostly higher for a second day. Major benchmark indexes in Japan and South Korea rose about 1 percent, while stocks in Taiwan surged 4.1 percent.
In Europe, stocks were lower, with the Stoxx 600, a Pan-European index, slipping just under 1 percent.
S&P 500 stock futures, which allow bets on the direction of the U.S. index before trading will resume, were flat. The S&P 500 ended on Tuesday 0.2 percent lower. At one point, stocks were driven higher when Chris Wright, the energy secretary, said on social media that the U.S. Navy had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the strait. But stocks pared their gains after the post was deleted and a White House official said no escort had taken place.
Emmett Lindner is a business reporter for The Times.
The post U.S. Gas Prices Jump for 11th Straight Day, and Oil Pushes Higher appeared first on New York Times.
