Crude Prices Retreat After Initial Jump on Iran Tensions

Crude prices mostly retraced on Tuesday after jumping at the start of the week as Iran suspended talks with the US and pledged to fully close the Strait of Hormuz, fuelling investor fears that the broader Middle East conflict could escalate rather than move towards a peace deal.

At the time of writing, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down around 4% from its Monday peak to $91.3 per barrel, while Brent crude also dropped roughly 4% to $97.2 per barrel.

The turnaround in oil prices seems to be mostly tied to US President Donald Trump's reassuring rhetoric on Monday afternoon guaranteeing that talks with Iran are continuing at a "rapid pace".

To support the reassuring sentiment, Trump also asserted to have spoken to both the Prime Minister of Israel and representatives of the Hezbollah leadership to de-escalate the ongoing conflict in Lebanon which is also placing the wider peace negotiations at risk.

At the open, European markets also rose on the hopes that there is meaningful progress in ending the Iran war.

Both the Euro Stoxx 50 and the broader pan-European Stoxx 600 traded around 0.9% higher at the start of Tuesday's session.

The UK's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX 30, France's CAC 40, Italy’s FTSE MIB, the Netherlands' AEX and Switzerland's CH20 were all up between 0.6% and 1% with the German index leading.

In the US, futures were mostly flat awaiting the open.

Asia-Pacific markets rise

In other trade dealings on Tuesday, Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose overnight with South Korea’s Kospi climbing around 2.6%, recovering the small correction it made on Monday after once again hitting an all-time high of 8,933 points, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped roughly 0.5%.

The AI momentum continues to carry the South Korean index and decouple it from broader geopolitical concerns that have affected other markets.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 2.5% and Mainland China’s CSI 300 climbed 1.5%.