- Global stocks rise on hopes of ending month-long Middle East war.
- Trump’s warning to hit Iran “extremely hard” sent US futures down.
- Asia-Pacific shares fell, with MSCI, Nikkei falling 0.75%, 0.79%.
Oil prices rose on Thursday after Donald Trump’s address to the nation did little to assuage investor concerns over the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, with the US president urging other nations to help reopen it.
Brent jumped more than 4% to as high as $105.55, while West Texas Intermediate climbed 3% to $103.16. Both contracts had fallen before the US president began his speech.
The prospect of an end to the month-long US-Israeli war with Iran has lifted global shares, knocking the dollar off its recent highs in the past two sessions after a brutal March in which soaring oil prices sent risk assets into a tailspin.
But Trump said in his primetime speech that the United States will attack Iran “extremely hard” in the next two to three weeks, knocking the country into the “stone age.”
That sent stocks retreating, with US stock futures down 0.67%, while European futures were 0.1% lower.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.75%. Japan’s Nikkei reversed course to trade down 0.79% in volatile trade.
Analysts and investors focused on when and how the Strait of Hormuz, a major fuel shipping route, would reopen and ease the supply bottleneck that has hit Asian economies hard.
Iran has repeatedly shelled Gulf countries, some home to US bases, and uses the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of global oil and liquid natural gas, as leverage.
Higher energy prices in March fueled fears of global inflation, with worries about slowing growth also dampening sentiment.
The US dollar has been the safe haven of choice among investors during the turmoil, and the greenback rose against most currencies after the speech.
