HONG KONG (AP) — Oil prices steadied on Friday on the intensifying Iran war to around $110 a barrel, while global shares were mixed following Wall Street losses.
U.S. futures were down more than 0.4%.
A Kuwaiti oil refinery came under Iranian drone attack early Friday as Tehran shows little signs of letting up on its attacks on Gulf region energy structure.
Oil prices had a roller-coaster day on Thursday with Brent crude, the international standard,
briefly surging to around $119 per barrel as attacks by Iran escalated after Israel's attack on Iran’s key natural gas field.
On Friday, Brent crude resumed its gain following a dip earlier in the day, rising 1.6% to $110.36 a barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude was up 0.3% to $95.80 a barrel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Thursday he would hold off on further attacks on Iran’s gas field at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Iran war, which is in its third week, has sent energy prices soaring and is fueling global inflation worries. Concerns are also growing over the supply of oil and gas with the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for the energy supply located between Iran and Oman, largely closed. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday raised the possibility of lifting its sanctions on Iranian oil at sea in a potential attempt to ease oil prices.
In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 10,052.39. France's CAC 40 gained 0.2% to 7,823.73, while Germany's DAX rose 0.4% to 22,930.92.
Asian markets were mostly lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9% to 25,277.32, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 1.2% to 3,957.05.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.3% to 5,781.20. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was closed on Friday on a holiday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.8% to 8,428.40.
Taiwan’s Taiex was 0.4% lower, while India's Sensex was up 0.8%.
Wall Street reported modest losses on Thursday. The S&P 500 was down 0.3% to 6,606.49. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4% to 46,021.43, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower at 22,090.69.
Shares of U.S. memory chipmaker Micron Technology declined 3.8% even though the company reported better-than-expected quarterly results. Its shares were still up roughly 330% over the past year on a worldwide memory shortage.
In other trading early Friday, gold gained 1.4% to $4,670.20 per ounce, while silver rose 1.4% to $72.19 an ounce.
The U.S. dollar rose to 158.78 Japanese yen, from 157.76 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1554, down from $1.1589.
