Oil prices jumped on Monday morning while European markets edged lower and Asian stocks rose to new all time highs after US President Donald Trump rejected Tehran’s response to the latest proposal on ending the war in Iran.
Oil prices surged in early trade as investors digested the latest developments in the Middle East, with both Brent and US crude climbing over 4%.
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The move comes after US President Donald Trump rejected Tehran’s response to the latest proposition to end the conflict in Iran, and consequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, to an end.
Details about the proposal have not been made publicly with Trump simply stating that it is "totally unacceptable".
As a result, the front month contract on Brent crude is trading at around $104.75 per barrel while US crude, or WTI, is also up to roughly $98.9 at the time of writing.
On Friday, Brent had closed around $100 while WTI at roughly $95 per barrel.
In Europe, markets edged lower at the open as they reacted to the developments with the Euro Stoxx 50 down a little over 0.5% and the broader pan-European Stoxx 600 trading flat.
The UK's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX 30 and Italy’s FTSE MIB are all trading within a 0.1% range while France's CAC 40 has dropped over 1%.
In Asia, indices seemed unaffected by the bad news. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 2% but only after briefly reaching another record high in intraday trading at above 63,300.
South Korea’s Kospi also hit an all-time intraday high gaining 4.1% and reaching 7,804.71, led by gains from tech-related stocks including Samsung Electronics and memory chip maker SK Hynix.
Technology-related stocks and growing AI-related interest have supported markets in Japan and South Korea despite the Iran war, with the Nikkei 225 and Kospi rising more than 10% and 30%, respectively, over the past month.
US futures are all slightly in the red trading within a 0.2% ahead of the open later today.
This week, US President Donald Trump is expected to head to China for talks with his counterpart, Xi Jinping. This could be the first US presidential visit to China since Trump went to Beijing in 2017.
The two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of topics, including trade concerns.
