European gas prices up 10%, Brent up 7% after escalation in the Strait of Hormuz
Over the weekend, the U.S. seized an Iranian-flagged vessel for the first time in the blockade / Photo: X / NYSE
Oil and natural gas prices in Europe rose sharply, while U.S. stock index futures fell in early trading after the weekend due to increased uncertainty in the Strait of Hormuz. Over the weekend, Iran re-blocked the strait to commercial shipping, and the U.S. seized an Iranian-flagged ship for the first time since the blockade.
- Brent crude futures for June delivery rose more than 7% to $96.8 a barrel.
- The cost of gas futures in Europe jumped almost 10% following oil.
- Futures on the S&P 500 broad market index, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite index were down 0.9 percent.
Context
The situation around the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for the energy market through which 20% of the world's oil and gas exports passed before the war, escalated this weekend. On Friday, Iran said it would temporarily open the strait to all commercial ships, but the very next day blocked passage again due to the ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports. As a result, only a small number of ships managed to pass through the strait on Saturday, but most abandoned their attempts and turned around, Bloomberg writes. Two vessels came under fire while trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. US President Donald Trump called it a violation of the ceasefire.
The current ceasefire expires on Tuesday. On April 19, Trump said he was sending a delegation to Pakistan for a new round of talks and demanded that Tehran accept the deal under threat of destroying all bridges and power plants in the country. Iran, in turn, said it saw "no clear prospects" of success in the talks and denied it was sending anyone to Pakistan, Bloomberg reported.
Updated
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
