Oil spikes past $100

Oil shot above $100 a barrel early Monday after United States-Iran peace talks collapsed and Washington moved toward a naval blockade of Iranian ports. (thehindubusinessline.com) Brent crude rose 7.05% to $101.91 a barrel by 1:04 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, while West Texas Intermediate climbed 7.86% to $104.16. President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States would begin blocking maritime traffic tied to Iranian ports, and CNBC reported United States Central Command set the start time for 10 a.m. Eastern Time Monday. (thehindubusinessline.com) (cnbc.com) Asian markets opened lower as traders priced in a longer conflict and costlier energy. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.74%, South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.86%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 1.01% in afternoon trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 edged up 0.21%. (b2b-asianews.com) The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, and it handles a large share of the world’s seaborne oil trade. United States-Iran talks in Islamabad had focused in part on reopening that route during a two-week ceasefire agreed last week. (usnews.com) (pbs.org) Markets had moved the other way only days earlier, when the ceasefire briefly reduced demand for safe-haven assets. Bloomberg reported on April 8 that the dollar fell against all its major peers after the truce, before reversing higher again on April 13 as the talks broke down. (bloomberg.com) (cnbc.com) That reversal hit currencies across Asia. The onshore yuan weakened to 6.8380 per dollar before trading at 6.8340, and the offshore yuan slipped to 6.8323, as investors moved back into the dollar. (thehindubusinessline.com) The dollar also rose against the euro, the British pound, the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar on Monday. CNBC reported the euro fell 0.3% to $1.1694, the pound dropped 0.2% to $1.3429, and the Australian dollar lost 0.3% to $0.7052. (cnbc.com) Oil traders are now focused on whether the United States blockade is enforced as announced and whether Iranian exports are disrupted for more than a few days. As Monday trading began, the immediate market verdict was simple: war risk was back in the oil price. (cnbc.com) (thehindubusinessline.com)