TOKYO — Oil prices resumed their climb and global markets mostly declined Monday (April 13) as the US military prepared to blockade traffic to and from Iranian ports and the Strait of Hormuz, where most shipping has been stalled by Iran since the start of the war.
US President Donald Trump announced the planned blockade after US-Iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement, and the US military said the blockade involving all Iranian ports would begin Monday at 10am EDT (10pm EST), or 5.30pm in Iran.
Oil prices have been rising as shipping through the strait has essentially stalled since late February.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, has gone from roughly US$70 (S$89.30) per barrel before the war in late February to more than US$119 at times.
On Monday, benchmark US crude jumped US$7.12 or 7.4 per cent to US$103.69 a barrel.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose US$7.04 or 7.4 per cent to US$102.24 a barrel.
France's CAC 40 dropped one per cent to 8,174.44 in early trading, while the German DAX lost one per cent to 23,568.65.
Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.4 per cent to 10,561.47.
US shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.5 per cent at 47,911.00. S&P 500 futures fell 0.6 per cent to 6,815.50.
In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.7 per cent to finish at 56,502.77.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4 per cent to 8,926.00. South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.9 per cent to 5,808.62.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.9 per cent to 25,660.85, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, inching up less than 0.1 per cent to 3,988.56.
Analysts said global trading was expected to remain turbulent for some time.
"The outcome of the talks was not really what people were hoping for, that's for certain," Neil Newman, Managing Director, Head of Strategy at Astris Advisory Japan, said in Hong Kong.
"As we stand here at the moment, it doesn't look very nice. Certainly, the oil prices are a big concern."
In currency trading, the US dollar gained to 159.65 Japanese yen (S$1.28) from 159.25 yen. The euro cost US$1.1696, down from US$1.1729.
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