Stocks in Europe fell as the U.S. prepares to blockade the Strait of Hormuz

European stock markets started the week in the red zone: market participants are evaluating the weekend events in the Middle East, in particular, the failure of talks between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan and the preparation of the U.S. military to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, writes CNBC.

Against this background, the pan-European index Stoxx 600 in the first minutes of trading fell by 0.64%, the French CAC 40 fell by 0.83%, the German DAX - in the minus by a symbolic 0.01% relative to the previous close, the British FTSE 100 fell by 0.53%.

In their dynamics on April 13, European stock markets followed the shares of the Asia-Pacific region, notes CNBC. Against the background of fading hopes about the soon end of the war in the Middle East, the main indices of the Tokyo Stock Exchange Nikkei 225 and Topix fell by 0.74% and 0.45% respectively. South Korea's Kospi fell by 0.86%.

Brent crude oil prices are adding almost 7% against the previous close: June futures are trading at $101.78 per barrel. American WTI is growing by a little more than 7% and costs $103.47.

Spot gold is down 0.43% to $4729.41 an ounce amid growing investor concerns about inflation - the precious metal was at an intraday low of $4644.5.

"The market is now largely back to the conditions that were in place before the ceasefire [between the U.S. and Iran in early April], except that the U.S. will now also block the remaining Iran-related oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz (up to 2 million barrels)," said MST Marquee analyst Saul Kavonick (quoted by Reuters).

The material is supplemented

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