Oil price tops $100 a barrel again after Trump announces strait of Hormuz blockade – business live

Heathrow Airport has warned that the outlook for the next few months is uncertain, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

In its latest traffic commentary, Heathrow says it is supporting airlines and passengers as they adapt to airspace closures, adding:

The knock-on impacts to global supply chains, including fuel, have not affected airport operations. Heathrow will monitor the situation and liaise with Government and airlines to protect passengers’ journeys.

Analyst: oil remains vulnerable to geopolitical triggers.

Every barrel of risk added to oil markets carries an inflation price tag for the global economy, warns Priyanka Sachdeva, analyst at brokerage Phillip Nova:

Oil markets have decisively re-entered geopolitical mode, with prices vaulting back above the psychological $100 per barrel threshold as the United States moved to impose a naval blockade targeting Iranian shipping through the strait of Hormuz.

Both benchmarks, WTI and Brent, opened gap-up and currently hover with almost 8% gains. The market reaction underscores a simple but powerful reality: Hormuz risk is not theoretical; it is structural, and it is real.

The latest catalyst came after talks mediated by Pakistan failed to produce a durable agreement, prompting the U.S. to announce enforcement of maritime restrictions on vessels moving to and from Iranian ports. The mere threat of enforcement alone has been sufficient to re-price risk, demonstrating how vulnerable oil remains to geopolitical triggers.

Only mild losses in Asia-Pacific markets after peace talks break down

The breakdown of US-Iran peace talks last weekend has only led to modest losses in Asia-Pacific markets.

Japan’s Nikkei index is down 0.75%, while Hong Kong’s HangSeng index and the South Korean KOSPI have both dropped by 1.15%.

Michael Brown, senior research strategist at brokerage Pepperstone, says:

While crude has advanced, and stocks slipped a touch, the overall market reaction to the weekend news of a US Navy blockade of the strait of Hormuz has been relatively contained, as participants view the move largely as a negotiating gambit from President Trump.

While it’s clearly a risk-averse start to the trading week, amid President Trump’s announcement of a Navy blockade in the strait of Hormuz, the general market reaction can be summed up as ‘could be worse’.

The US blockade of the strait of Hormuz is a blow to the 20,000 seafarers who have been trapped in the Gulf for the last six weeks.

One told us last week:

“I gave my notice exactly one month ago. I’ve informed the master, I’m not willing to sail through the strait. It’s about safety, it’s all about safety.”

Introduction: US blockage threat puts oil back over $100

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

We start a new week, again, with an escalating conflict in the Middle East, after the collapse of US-Iran peace talks last weekend.

Donald Trump’s threat to impose a blockade on the strait of Hormuz has driven the oil price back over $100 a barrel again this morning, as hopes of an end to the conflict soon take another knock.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, has jumped by 7% to $101.88 a barrel, while US crude is up over 8% to $104.69 a barrel – back towards the highs of almost $120 set early in the conflict.

The US president also said he had asked the US Navy to “interdict” any ship that had paid a toll to Iran for passage through the strait, in an attempt to choke off the flow of Iranian oil.

Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, says:

By doing so, the US aims to force Tehran’s allies and customers to put pressure on Iran to reopen the vital chokepoint, potentially resolving the impasse without committing ground forces to another protracted conflict.

This approach will undoubtedly strain Iran’s relationship with its largest customer, China. Having already lost Venezuelan supply earlier this year, Beijing now faces the potential loss of another roughly 2m barrels a day.

The war has already driven confidence across Britain’s biggest companies down to a six-year low.

Deloitte’s quarterly survey of chief financial officers has found that concerns around energy prices, inflation and interest rates surging after the Middle East conflict, to its lowest level since early in the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.