Oil Prices Jump 4.8% as Fighting Resumes, Tel Aviv Stocks Open Lower

Oil prices surged by about 4.8% overnight on Monday בעקבות the renewed fighting between Iran and Israel. A barrel of Brent crude is trading this morning at about $97.5. WTI crude rose by a similar rate and is trading at $94.8 a barrel.

Trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange also opened lower this morning, with the Tel Aviv 35 Index down about 1.3% and the Tel Aviv 125 Index down 1.5%. Asian stock markets also posted declines. South Korea’s market showed a 9% drop in its main index, though the decline later moderated. Tokyo’s Nikkei Index also fell 3.75%, and Taiwan’s stock index dropped by nearly 3.5%.

Oil price fluctuations since the outbreak of the war in Iran in February (CNN) The fire from Iran to Israel resumed last night, for the first time since the ceasefire began, after threats from Tehran that it would respond to the strike in the Dahieh. Last night, after the launches from Iran toward Israel, U.S. President Donald Trump told Kan News that he "thinks Israel has responded enough." He told Axios that he plans to call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and instruct him not to attack in Iran. However, it was reported overnight that the IDF struck the Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, as well as surface-to-surface missile launch sites and infrastructure. In the morning hours, Israel struck a petrochemical plant in Iran.

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