Oil jumped, while US stock futures declined after American forces started new strikes on Iran, putting further strain on a fragile ceasefire and threatening to prolong the conflict in the Middle East that’s upended global markets.
On June 11 local time the IRGC navy announced the Strait of Hormuz was closed until further notice, citing repeated US violations of a ceasefire agreement.
But US Central Command said that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ claim the Strait of Hormuz had been closed was false and commercial vessels were still transiting the strait that evening.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.32% and Nasdaq 100 contracts lost 0.56%, trimmed some losses after initial declines.
West Texas Intermediate crude surged as much as 2.9% to $92.64 a barrel.
The latest strikes highlighted President Donald Trump’s growing impatience with stalled peace efforts after months of failed negotiations. They also reinforced the view that an April ceasefire has effectively collapsed, despite the absence of a return to the large-scale bombing campaign seen at the start of the conflict.
“We’re going to be attacking them, attacking them very hard,” Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday, before the latest strikes were announced. “We hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them hard again today.”