NYMEX crude oil futures rise for 7th consecutive day, WTI hits $96.05 due to Middle East tensions

[New York Current Affairs] On the 9th, crude oil futures prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) rose for the seventh consecutive day as tensions over the situation in the Middle East further escalated. The closing price of standard US oil WTI was $96.05 per barrel, up $3.02 (3.25%) from the previous day, the highest price in three and a half months since late May.

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US Central Command announced on the 8th that it had destroyed five Iranian oil tankers. The exchange of attacks is intensifying, with reports that Iran carried out a retaliatory attack on the 9th. With no clear path to normalization of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy transport hub, crude oil purchases intensified.

In the financial and bond markets, bond selling (interest rates rose) accelerated after the US Treasury announced on the 9th an increase in the upper limit on the buyback of long-term bonds. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries, an indicator of long-term interest rates, temporarily rose to the 4.85% level, the highest level since November 2023, apparently because the rate of increase did not meet market expectations.

The New York stock market fell for the third straight day as investor sentiment worsened due to rising oil prices and interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is made up of blue-chip stocks, closed at $52,380.66, down $405.41 from the previous day's closing price. The NASDAQ Composite Index, which focuses on high-tech stocks, fell 168.07 points to close at 26,253.34.