US sinks 7 Iranian boats as Trump warns regime could be ‘blown off the face of the Earth’
Oil prices jumped sharply on Monday and stocks fell in volatile trading amid a flare-up in the conflict in the Gulf and deepening uncertainty over the near-total shutdown of ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil jumps.
- The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, settled at $114.44 a barrel on Monday, up about 6 percent for the day.
- West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, rose about 4 percent to settle at $106.42 a barrel.
- Emirati authorities blamed Iran for a drone attack that caused a fire in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, the largest oil storage area in the Emirates, in the first such assault in the Persian Gulf area since a cease-fire was reached on April 7.
- Adding to the anxiety among investors, U.S. Central Command said that Army helicopters destroyed six Iranian military speedboats that threatened the ships in the strait.
- President Trump said Iran had “taken some shots at unrelated Nations,” including a South Korea cargo ship, in connection with an initiative he announced on Sunday to help guide stranded ships out of the strait.
Stocks drop.
- The S&P 500 was down 0.4 percent at its close on Monday, after notching its fifth straight week of gains on Friday.
- In Europe, the Stoxx 600, a broad-index that tracks the region’s largest companies, fell 0.9 percent. Markets in Britain were closed for a holiday.
- Stocks in Asia, where countries import vast quantities of oil and gas, were mostly higher. Stock markets in Taiwan and South Korea surged more than 4 percent, as semiconductor shares rose. Markets in Japan and China were closed for a holiday.
Gasoline prices rise
- Gas prices rose a notch on Monday to a national average of $4.46 a gallon, according to the AAA motor club. The increase has raised the cost for drivers by just shy of 50 percent since the war began.
- Gas prices do not move in lock step with crude, usually trailing increases or decreases by a few days.
- Diesel prices stood basically even at $5.64 on Monday, up just over 50 percent since the start of the war.
- Iron Dome
- The Israeli military deployed its Iron Dome missile defense system in the United Arab Emirates during the Iran war, according to two people familiar with the move, a remarkable display of defense cooperation between Israel and an Arab nation.
Drone Threat- Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, is attacking Israeli troops with explosive drones controlled by fiber-optic cables, like those commonly used in the war in Ukraine.
- New York Times
