Oil soars above $100 as Middle East fears grow

Oil prices surged past $100 a barrel on Thursday as Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeted Red Sea shipping as threats by US President Donald Trump to strike them in return sent equity markets slumping.

The international benchmark Brent North Sea oil contract soared seven percent to over the symbolic $100 a barrel level, as the attacks potentially opened a new front in the Middle East war and Trump threatened the Houthis with "major military punishment."

Iran, meanwhile, vowed to continue striking the Gulf region so long as it remains under attack from US strikes.

While soaring oil prices generated the most attention, Wall Street stocks endured a downcast session after markets panned earnings reports by Google parent Alphabet and Tesla.

Alphabet finished down 6.9 percent while Tesla sank 14.5 percent as both companies came under scrutiny for massive capital spending drives.

Besides angst about spiking oil prices and AI weakness, Wall Street is beginning to worry about seasonal dynamics. Late summer has historically been a weak season for markets.

"The calendar is not great," said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management, adding "the tensions with Iran are getting worse, not better."

The Red Sea attacks added to concerns about oil supply at a time when deliveries through the Strait of Hormuz have been severely impaired.

Saudi Arabia had been using the Red Sea to export millions of barrels of oil that normally flowed through the Strait of Hormuz, so the closure of that shipping channel would remove more oil from the market.

"If Saudi Arabia is unable to move the additional quantities of crude oil that they redirected already from the Persian Gulf, it means that supply disruption is that much worse for the rest of the world at a time that we continue to draw down our commercial inventories," said Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates.

The prospect of increased oil prices also raises the prospect of higher inflation and interest rate hikes, adding to weak sentiment, analysts said.

Sovereign bond yields also rose, putting pressure on government spending around the world.

European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde said the reports of the Houthi attacks were "alarming" but that they came too late to factor into the ECB's decision on Thursday to hold interest rates steady.

Nevertheless, the situation in the Red Sea "is clearly going to have an impact and is having an impact," she said.

"We can see that on the price of Brent as it evolves almost by the hour."

Investors' appetite for AI has been tested in recent months on concerns about elevated valuations and as they question when the huge sums pumped into the sector will see returns.

Next week's results from Microsoft, Meta and Amazon will be pored over for their capital spending plans. All three tech giants finished sharply lower on Thursday.

While a majority of US industrial sectors fell, energy was among the groups that advanced.

Another robust corner of the market was defense, where RTX and Lockheed Martin both reported strong results reflecting hefty US Pentagon spending in the context of the US-Iran war. RTX gained 7.3 percent while Lockheed Martin surged 10.5 percent.

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 7.0 percent at $100.69 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 6.2 percent at $92.19 a barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 51,711.65 (close)

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 1.2 percent at 7,408.30 (close)

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 2.2 percent at 25,137.69 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 10,639.17 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.6 percent at 8,299.09 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.6 percent at 24,763.12 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 66,422.60 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.3 percent at 25,210.81 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,876.78 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1377 from $1.1412 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3315 from $1.3375

Euro/pound: UP at 85.44 pence from 85.31 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 163.85 yen from 163.15