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As it happened: Stocks rises as oil eases but Strait of Hormuz concerns ramp up

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Senior City Reporter

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Aerial view of ships navigating the strategic Strait of Hormuz, highlighting its importance to global maritime trade routes
Control over the Strait of Hormuz continues to be a concern.

Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog.

Markets are set to make a loss for the week after the conflict in the Middle East returned to full-blown military action this week.

The FTSE 100 has shed over one per cent and is on course to close in the red for the week, even after breaking into the green at open. Meanwhile Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – has crept up after hostilities disrupted energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. 

Last night, more explosions were heard across southern Iran. The US’s central command said it has hit 180 targets across 48 hours of action.

Donald Trump has unleashed a diatribe on the Iranian leadership branding them “scum” and “cuckoo”. But on Thursday, he claimed they had reached out and wanted to make a deal.

“They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly,” the US President said as he was boarding Air Force One.

Iran has threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz once more following the attacks – a move which could cripple the oil market after shipments only just gradually began flowing again. The narrow waterway sees around a fifth of the world’s global supply flow through.

But in reaction to these threats the US Central Command issued a statement claiming “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.”

It added: “Since early May, US forces have helped facilitate the successful transit of more than 800 commercial vessels and 380m barrels of crude oil through the vital international trade corridor”.

We’ll be bringing you the latest market updates and analysis.

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