Oil rises, stocks fall as Hormuz worries flare

Oil prices rose on Wednesday and stocks fell amid fresh concerns about Middle East supplies following a warning that Iran appeared to be stepping up attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

The retreat came as investors brushed off another record day on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were boosted by a rush back into the AI trade that saw chip titan Nvidia push towards a $6 trillion market capitalisation.

Confidence has been given a boost this week as reports said that exports from the Middle East — excluding Iran — were pushing back towards pre-war levels.

That helped push global benchmark Brent below $100 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate below $90, easing inflation concerns and giving central banks some room to hold off hiking interest rates.

However, both contracts rebounded on Tuesday as figures showed Tehran had increased strikes on tankers in the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

UK Maritime Trade Operations said there had been nine attacks so far this month, representing half of the September total in the waterway and the Gulf combined.

Yemen’s Houthis also claimed an attack on Riyadh’s main airport and denied reports they had been pushed back by government forces, who have launched a major operation to recapture lost territory.

The Houthi statements came as Yemen’s military said it had removed the pro-Iran group from areas around the Bab al-Mandeb strait — a Red Sea chokepoint — and the port city of Mocha.

The developments come as top oil officials warn that global stockpiles are running low, meaning governments’ ability to withstand the impact of the crisis is waning.

“Reports of increased flows across the region have offered some downside pressure on crude, but this has been offset by varying reports around the scale of attacks on vessels moving through the Strait,” said Chris Weston at Pepperstone.

“For now, the market remains highly sensitive to headlines and geopolitical risk.”

– Earnings in focus –

Equities dropped after an upbeat start to the week.

Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Jakarta and Taipei were all in the red, although Bangkok and Manila were up.

Mumbai slipped as the Indian central bank hiked interest rates for the first time in more than three years, with the Middle East crisis keeping inflation well above officials’ target. The rupee was steady after the move.

London, Paris and Frankfurt all fell.

Traders failed to take up the baton from their US colleagues, who piled into tech firms again ahead of the latest earnings season that analysts think will see S&P 500 profits jump by a quarter year-on-year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

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The records on the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were boosted by more gains in Nvidia, which saw its market capitalisation hit almost $5.7 trillion.

Investors were also buoyed by a Financial Times report that said SpaceX was looking to raise $40 billion to buy Nvidia chips.

The news comes even after a summer rout in tech firms fuelled by worries that the colossal sums they had invested in the AI sector may have been overdone, with questions swirling over when they would see a return, if ever.

– Key figures at around 0810 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 per cent at 70,035.71 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 per cent at 24,130.50 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 per cent at 10,488.12

Shanghai – Composite: Closed for a holiday

Dollar/yen: UP at 158.21 yen from 158.17 yen on Tuesday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1193 from $1.1257

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3226 from $1.3275

Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.55 pence from 84.81 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 per cent at $89.88 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 per cent at $101.23 per barrel