US crude tops $110 per barrel and Wall Street tumbles after Trump vows to escalate attacks on Iran
Oil rose more than 10% and U.S. futures fell Thursday after President Donald Trump said in his first national address since the start of the Iran war that the United States would intensify its campaign in the coming weeks.
The future of the S&The P 500 fell 1.5% before the opening bell, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 1.4%. Nasdaq futures slipped 2%.
Thursday is the last trading day this week due to Good Friday. Markets have not posted a weekly gain since the war began in late February.
An Iranian military spokesman insisted Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of weapons, munitions and production facilities.
“The centers you think you have targeted are insignificant and our strategic military productions are taking place in places of which you have no knowledge and which you will never reach,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari.
Just before Trump began his speech – in which he declared that “the fundamental strategic objectives of the United States are nearing completion” – explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage.
Trump did not mention the looming deadline he set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway for global oil and gas transportation, after threatening Iran with U.S. attacks on its energy infrastructure if the strait was not reopened. He has not offered a clear path to ending the supply disruptions that have sent energy prices skyrocketing.
Oil prices rose sharply following Trump’s remarks. The price of U.S. crude on Thursday actually climbed higher than the price of the type of crude that was bottled up by the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose $10.11 to $110.24 a barrel, outpacing Brent, the international benchmark. Brent jumped more than 8% to $109.38.
“The market was disappointed because President Trump’s speech was much lower than what they expected,” said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex in Tokyo. “There have been no concrete details on the end of hostilities with Iran.”
“What the market wants is clear contours of the ceasefire,” he said.
In overnight stock trading, General Motors slipped more than 2% after the automaker reported a nearly 10% drop in first-quarter sales. That sent most automakers lower Thursday morning, as several others prepare to report their latest results.
At midday in Europe, the British FTSE 100 index was down 0.6%, the French CAC 40 was down 1.3% and the German DAX was down 2.4%.
Asian stocks closed lower. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 2.4% at 52,463.27 on Thursday. South Korea’s Kospi lost 4.5% to 5,234.05, also after government data showed consumer prices in March rose 2.2% from a year earlier due to soaring fuel costs.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7% to 25,116.53, the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.7% to 3,919.29.
Australia S&The P/ASX 200 fell 1.1%, while Taiwan’s Taiex traded 1.8% lower.
Gold and silver prices fell. Gold fell 3.9% to $4,627 an ounce, while silver lost 6.9% to $70.85.
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Associated Press journalists Matthew Daly, Kim Tong-hyung and Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.
