LONDON: Global oil prices slipped on Tuesday a day after the US launched an operation aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, although exchanges of fire between the US and Iran limited the decline.
Brent crude futures eased $2.99, or 2.6 percent, to $111.45 a barrel at 1322 GMT after settling up 5.8 percent on Monday. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell $3.70, or 3.5 percent, to $102.72, after gaining 4.4 percent in the previous session. Maersk said the Alliance Fairfax, a US-flagged vehicle carrier, exited the Gulf via the strait accompanied by the US military.
“It shows that limited safe passage is possible under current conditions and helps chip away at some of the worst-case supply disruption fears,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, in an email.
“However, it’s still very much a one-off event rather than a full reopening,” he added.
Global stocks
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9 percent.
In Europe, the STOXX 600 rose 0.5 percent, lifted by brewer Anheuser-Busch, which beat forecasts with first quarter results, and by shares in Italian lender Unicredit, which reported record quarterly profits.
Data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showed 83 percent of S&P 500 companies that have already reported have beaten EPS estimates and 78.2 percent of them have beaten revenue estimates. LSEG data shows earnings growth for the S&P 500 is now projected to top 18 percent in the first quarter, up from estimates of around 12.8 percent just a month ago.
“With no signs of slowing down, AI-driven spending will likely continue to do the heavy lifting for S&P 500 earnings growth, led by the technology sector,” said Jeff Buchbinder, chief equity strategist at LPL Financial.
