US stock futures rise, oil at $116: What's happening in the markets on 31 days of war

European stocks began the week with a slight decline, but then came out in the plus, growth is also shown by futures on U.S. stocks - the conflict in the Middle East continues exactly a month, investors are looking for opportunities to cope with further escalation, writes CNBC.

Against this background, the pan-European index Stoxx 600 lost 0.95% in the first minutes of trading on March 30, but then recovered the losses and at the time of publication is adding a symbolic 0.07%. The French CAC 40 after a 0.87% drop later also went into the plus side. German DAX opened in the minus by 1.38%, but at the time of publication loses 0.3%. British FTSE 100 in the first minutes of trading also fell by 0.7%, but later came out in the plus - adds 0.4%.

The focus of attention in the eurozone on March 30 is the German consumer price index (CPI and HICP) data, which will be released later: they will make it possible to assess the impact of the war on Europe's largest economy, notes Reuters. The head of the Central Bank of France François Villroy de Galo has already said that the European Central Bank (ECB) is ready to prevent the spread of inflation, which may be caused by rising energy prices, but it is too early to discuss the dates of a possible increase in interest rates, notes the agency.

Brent oil shows a record monthly growth in the history of observation, writes Reuters - its quotations since the beginning of March have added almost 60% - at the time of publication Brent is trading in the plus 3%, the May contracts are worth $116. WTI futures are adding 2%, up to $101.88.

Gold trades in a slight plus relative to Friday's close (adding 0.8% to $4531 per ounce).

U.S. stock futures are rising after the worst week since October, which saw the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones enter correction territory. The Dow Jones composite is adding 0.2%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are up nearly 0.3%.

"If you look at the magnitude of the [U.S. stock market] decline and how correlated all of these stocks were, we probably [realize] that in an effort to get rid of something unnecessary, we're also throwing away something valuable," Cameron Dawson, chief investment officer at NewEdge Wealth, told CNBC. "So now is a great opportunity to sharpen your pencils and ask yourself which sectors will prove more resilient to factors like the introduction of AI, yet are now trading at a discount - not only because of fears around AI, but also because of war fears," she added.

Late last week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that even after the end of the war in the Middle East, Iran may charge ships transit fees for passing through the Strait of Hormuz - earlier Bloomberg sources reported that Tehran was requesting up to $2 million for each voyage.

"Iran may decide to impose a system of tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz," Rubio told reporters after the G7 meeting (quoted in Barron's). - "It's not only illegal, it's unacceptable, it's dangerous to the world, and it's important that the world has a plan to counter it," he added, noting that he estimates the war in the Middle East will last for "a few more weeks, not months.

The Strait of Hormuz, the most important trade route through which about 25% of the world's oil shipments and a significant amount of LNG passed in peacetime, has been effectively closed for about a month now. Iran shut down shipping through it in response to U.S.-Israeli strikes. In recent days, only some vessels approved by Tehran, including tankers for the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas, have been passing through the strait, Bloomberg writes.

In addition, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a March 29 interview with the Financial Times that he could "seize the oil in Iran" by taking control of Iran's export hub, Kharq Island. And Yemen's Houthis claimed rocket fire on Israel over the weekend, their first direct involvement in the U.S.-Israel-Iran war in the Middle East.

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