Oil prices surge more than 5% Wednesday, July 8, while global stock markets fell after US President Donald Trump said the interim ceasefire with Iran was “over.”
The move followed US strikes on Iran and Washington’s revocation of a waiver that had allowed Tehran to sell oil abroad.
Brent crude rose as much as 6% to above USD 78 a barrel, its highest level in more than two weeks. US West Texas Intermediate crude moved above USD 74 a barrel.
US stock futures also declined. S&P 500 futures fell 0.7%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 1%, and Nasdaq futures dropped 1.1%.
Asian markets came under heavier pressure. South Korea’s Kospi futures fell 5.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 2.1%.
Read: Global Markets Fall as Brent Crude Jumps 5.37pc
Energy shares rose in premarket trading as crude prices climbed. Exxon Mobil and Chevron each rose nearly 2%.
AAA reported that the US national average gasoline price reached USD 3.80 a gallon on Wednesday. That was more than 27% above the level seen before the war began in late February.
Technology stocks also weakened after Apple lost its challenge to the European Union’s classification of the company as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act.
Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Amazon each lost more than 1%, as renewed Middle East uncertainty added pressure to global equity markets.
