TOKYO (AP) — World shares were mixed on Wednesday and oil prices climbed after Iran threatened to block Middle East energy exports now that the U.S. has resumed its blockade of Iranian ports.
Stock price gains overall were moderate given worries that the United States and Iran may return to an all-out war. Renewed attacks in the Middle East have raised the risks of further disruptions of transport of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing
oil prices higher.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Wednesday to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the U.S. blockade. U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday that the blockade was resumed as an interim agreement on ending the war unraveled.
“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” said the statement by the Iranian side.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.6% to $85.23 a barrel, while benchmark U.S. crude gained 0.7% to $79.89 a barrel.
“The U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding signed last month has proved to be anything but. The two sides are once again exchanging military strikes, and they hold completely different views on the state of affairs in the Strait of Hormuz,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
“With shipping around the Gulf becoming increasingly fraught with danger, traffic flows are declining once more,” he said.
In early European trading, France's CAC 40 rose 0.5% to 8,371.11, while the German DAX shed 0.5% to 25,014.37. Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.2% to 10,513.40.
South Korea’s Kospi led gains in Asia, surging 6.2% to 7,284.41 as prices rebounded from a recent sell-off in semiconductor stocks. Shares in computer chipmaker SK Hynix rose 8.8%, while those of Samsung Electronics surged 6.3%.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.5% to finish at 68,751.51.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 8,841.10.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 1.4% to 24,681.10, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.3% to 3,955.58 after the Chinese government reported the economy expanded at a 4.3% annualized pace in April-June, slowing sharply from 5% in the first quarter of the year.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks rallied following a report that showed U.S. inflation was not as bad last month as economists expected. It said U.S. consumers had to pay prices for gasoline, food and other costs of living that were 3.5% higher last month than a year earlier.
The S&P 500 added 0.4% to recover some of its 0.8% loss from the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9%.
Investors are watching for earnings reports this week from various global companies.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 162.32 Japanese yen from 162.26 yen. The euro cost $1.1421, down from $1.1423.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
