Crude oil prices climbed in early trade as Israel launched airstrikes on Monday targeting central and western Iran in response to missile fire. Iranian state television reported the sound of explosions being heard in Isfahan, Tabriz and Tehran, without immediately elaborating.
American and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative deal last week to extend their ceasefire, but the agreement has not been finalised and the latest attacks further strain efforts to end the conflict.
Iran’s attack flurry reportedly prompted US President Donald Trump to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to advise against retaliation, even as Israeli military leaders vowed to strike as soon as they are given the go-ahead.
“I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate,” Trump was quoted as saying by Axios journalist Barak Ravid in a phone interview, using the Israeli leader’s nickname.
“Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one,” Trump reportedly said.
Brent crude, the international standard, jumped $3.50 to $96.59 a barrel. Benchmark US crude surged $3.48 to $94.02 a barrel, at the time of writing.
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European markets open lower
In other share trading, key European markets opened in the red on Monday morning.
Germany’s Dax was down 1.19%, France’s CAC 40 was also lower, by 0.94%, while the UK’s FTSE 100 declined 0.35%. Meanwhile, Italy’s FTSE MIB fell by 0.44%.
In Asia-Pacific markets, South Korea’s Kospi slipped 6.8% to 7,605.42 as Samsung Electronics, the country’s biggest company, dropped 7%. SK Hynix declined 3.3%.
Taiwan’s Taiex lost 3.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.3% to 24,631.64. The Shanghai Composite shed 1.1% to 3,984.75.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 4.2% to 63,804.77. The Japanese government revised the annualised economic growth rate to 1.8% for the first quarter this year, down from an earlier estimate of 2.1%.
Trading was closed in Australia for the King’s Birthday, a holiday.
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Wall Street finished last week with the S&P 500 sinking 2.6%, to 7,383.74, after a strong jobs report boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise rates at some point this year.
It was the biggest one-day drop since 10 October, when the Trump administration threatened to impose a 100% tariff on imported goods from China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4% to 50,866.78. The Nasdaq composite slumped 4.2% to 25,709.43.