A barrel of US benchmark crude (WTI) fell 0.28 percent to $101.65, while the price of Brent, the international benchmark, fell a slight 0.06 percent to $108.10, it says. Euronews.
Tension in the Strait of Hormuz
Much now depends on progress towards ending the war with Iran and unblocking the key passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
"The oil market remains critical, with hundreds of tankers, bulk carriers and cargo ships still blocked across the Gulf. They are stalled as storage constraints force producers to shut down production simply because there is no more storage space," said Stien Ins of SPI Asset Management.
Trump said the operation, which he called "Project Freedom," would begin Monday morning in the Middle East. US Central Command said guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 troops would participate in the operation, but the Pentagon has not yet responded to questions about the details of their deployment.
Situation on world stock markets
In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.4 percent to 26,135.47 points. Markets in mainland China and Japan were closed for the Golden Week holiday. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3 percent to 8,704.70 points. Strong buying in technology stocks lifted South Korea's Kospi by 3.8 percent, while Taiwan's Taiex jumped 4.2 percent.
On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to a new record high of 7,230.12 points on Wall Street, concluding a fifth consecutive week of growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3 percent to 49,499.27, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.9 percent to close at a record 25,114.44. The gains were led by Apple, whose shares jumped 3.3 percent after reporting better-than-expected earnings. Because of its size, Apple's gains were the strongest force lifting the S&P 500.
Good business results encourage optimism
Over the long term, stock prices track corporate profits, and U.S. companies are beating expectations in the first three months of 2026, even as the war with Iran and high oil prices dent American household confidence. Just over a quarter of the companies in the S&P 500 have already reported results, and 84 percent of them beat analysts’ estimates, according to FactSet. The index is on track to post earnings growth of about 15 percent from the previous year.
Uncertainty about oil prices
The main uncertainty for the global economy remains the movement of oil prices due to the war in Iran. Prices rose last week on concerns that the war could keep the Strait of Hormuz closed for a long time, trapping tankers in the Persian Gulf. Before the war, the price of Brent was just above $70 a barrel.
Rising prices helped two of America's biggest oil companies report better-than-expected profits, but their shares still fell. Exxon Mobil fell 1 percent and Chevron fell 1.4 percent as oil prices retreated on Friday and both companies reported a decline in net profit from a year ago.
In other markets Monday morning, the dollar rose to 157.18 Japanese yen from 156.80 yen. The euro fell to $1.1724 from $1.1746.
