Stocks Tread Cautiously as Investors Watch Oil Prices
Stocks and bond investors traded cautiously on Monday as the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran entered its fourth day.
The two countries exchanged new attacks amid pleas by officials from around the world to scale back hostilities. European and U.S. leaders spoke with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday to try to de-escalate tensions.
Stocks in Asia and Europe were mostly higher on Monday. Futures for the S&P 500, which indicate how the index might perform when trading begins in New York, were up 0.5 percent.
Oil prices, which have had a more discernible response to the fighting, were choppy. An early rise in the price of Brent crude, the primary global benchmark, faded, with prices roughly flat in the European morning, at around $74 per barrel. Oil prices gained almost 12 percent last week.
After Israel's initial attack on Friday, and Iran's response, both countries continued to launch missiles at each other over the weekend. Israel attacked parts of Iran's energy infrastructure — including one of the world's largest natural gas fields, and an oil refinery. But the attacks had spared the Kharg Island facility, from which nearly all of Iran's oil exports are shipped.
Analysts caution that Iran could threaten oil exports out of the Persian Gulf, by choking off shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. That would severely disrupt energy markets, and could push prices sharply higher.
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