Crude oil rallied sharply overnight. This saw front-month WTI top Tuesday’s multi-month high by a couple of cents. Oil prices remain elevated, and as things stand, there’s no sign that either WTI or Brent looks set to reverse direction and fill the price gap that opened up between Friday’s close and Monday’s open.
This is despite President Trump’s assurance that the US will ensure affordable insurance rates for tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, along with providing naval protection. There was a modest dip after a US military official declared this morning that Iran had failed to close off the Strait.
Source: TN Trader
Yet overall, sentiment hasn’t been helped after Iran launched a missile attack on Israel this morning, and after a US submarine torpedoed an Iranian frigate yesterday off the coast of Sri Lanka. Iran promised to retaliate, and there are unsubstantiated reports today that Iran has struck a US oil tanker.
Oil has, perhaps more than any other market, been driven by headlines concerning the ongoing hostilities across the Middle East, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz.
