Oil up 2%, stock futures fall after Trump's threats on Iran

Oil rose more than 2 percent and U.S. stock index futures fell in early trading after the weekend amid Donald Trump's new threats against Iran.

- Brent crude futures for June delivery were up 2.2% to $111.4 a barrel at the time of publication.

- Futures on the Nasdaq Composite index were down 0.8%. Futures on the S&P 500 broad market index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average blue-chip index were losing 0.6%.

U.S. President Donald Trump on April 5 threatened to strike Iranian power plants and bridges unless the Strait of Hormuz, a key Persian Gulf oil and gas supply route that Tehran has virtually cut off since the war began on Feb. 28, is unblocked. The deadline he set expires Tuesday, April 7.

Trump's threats against Iran have alarmed some U.S. Gulf partners, The Wall Street Journal wrote, citing sources. They fear the attacks could prompt Tehran to retaliate against their energy infrastructure. In March, when Israel struck Iran's South Pars gas field, Iran retaliated by striking a major gas field in Qatar.

A potential escalation of the Gulf War will add to the shock to the energy market, which has seen a drop in Gulf oil exports and a surge in prices, Bloomberg notes. The OPEC+ group of major oil exporters warned on April 5 that damage to Middle East energy facilities would have a long-term impact on oil supplies even after the war with Iran ends.

"Restoring damaged energy facilities to full capacity will be costly and take a long time," the OPEC+ ministers said. Any threat to the security of oil supplies - from disruption of export routes to attacks on infrastructure - would increase market volatility, they said.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor