Oil Prices Surge as Middle East Crisis Deepens

Oil prices jumped over one per cent toward $100 per barrel on Wednesday as intensifying military clashes in the Middle East fuelled global supply fears and battered stock markets.

Brent crude reached $99.67 while West Texas Intermediate neared $95, driven by new Iranian missile strikes on a US military base in Jordan and Iranian threats against oil tankers near Kuwait and Bahrain.

Additionally, cross-border strikes between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthis near the Bab al-Mandab chokepoint further threatened key maritime trade routes during the ongoing paralysis of the Strait of Hormuz.

The sustained surge in energy costs is reigniting inflationary pressures globally and forcing central banks to consider further interest rate hikes.

Investors fear the Federal Reserve may raise borrowing costs next week if Friday’s US Consumer Price Index report reflects persistent inflation, following an expected rate hike by the European Central Bank on Thursday.

Analysts caution that rising oil prices risk undoing recent inflation progress while squeezing both household budgets and commercial enterprise profits.

The prospect of tighter monetary policy dragged major Wall Street indexes down, while Asian equity markets turned in a mixed performance.

Despite broader market anxiety, technology shares in Asia continued their recovery, led by strong gains from semiconductor giants SK hynix and Samsung.

Meanwhile, currency markets saw the Japanese yen strengthen against the US dollar as investors weighed regional security risks against global economic data.

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