Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
07-05-2026
TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON: Brent crude oil jumped around 2% on Monday and the dollar strengthened amid conflicting reports from Iran and the US about American warships in the Strait of Hormuz.
US stocks were mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.5%, the S&P 500 0.05% lower and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.12%.
Iran’s navy prevented “American-Zionist” warships entering the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, state TV reported, while the Fars news agency said two missiles had hit a US warship near Jask on the Gulf of Oman after it ignored Iranian warnings.
Meedia could not independently verify the reports. The US military said two US Navy guided-missile destroyers had entered the Gulf to break an Iranian blockade and that two US ships had transited the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian warning to US forces
Iran’s military had earlier on Monday warned US forces not to enter the Strait of Hormuz after President Donald Trump said the US would start helping to free ships stranded in the Gulf by the US-Israeli war on Iran. He provided few details of the plan.
US crude was last up 0.1% to $102.03 a barrel and Brent rose to $110.36 per barrel, up 2% on the day.
Analysts said, however, high prices were not sustainable longer term because of their impact on demand and the economy.
“The market is being pulled in two opposing directions right now: on one hand, geopolitical risk is pushing oil higher and reviving inflation fears but on the other, underlying growth especially in the US, is clearly softening,” said Bruno Schneller, managing partner at Erlen Capital Management, a multi-family office.
This combination was driving some of the big market swings recorded in stocks, bonds and currencies, he added.
MSCI’s broadest index of global shares outside Japan rose, led by gains in Asian stocks with the tech-heavy South Korean stocks tab closing over 5% higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.2%.
In Europe, the performance of German carmakers weakened the region’s start to the week after Trump said on Friday that Washington would raise tariffs on European cars and trucks.
The pan-European index was last down 0.6%. Germany’s 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone bloc, was last up 2 basis points at 3.052%. Bond yields move inversely to prices. Markets in London were closed for a public holiday.
The US military said two US Navy guided-missile destroyers had entered the Gulf to break an Iranian blockade and that two US ships had transited the Strait of Hormuz.
That’s after Iran said it had prevented a US warship from entering the Gulf.
US Central Command said its forces were supporting Trump’s “Project Freedom”, which aims to “guide out” commercial ships stranded in the Gulf, and were enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports.
The intervention appeared to raise the risk of a direct confrontation between the US and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier on Monday, Iran said it had forced a US warship to turn back from the strait, although CENTCOM quickly denied an Iranian news report that the ship had been hit by missiles.
A senior Iranian official told media Iran had fired a warning shot and that it was unclear whether the warship had been damaged. (Int’l News Desk)
