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As It Happened: Stocks dip as oil’s ‘slowing demand’ in focus; Iran threatens to extend war

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People on a beach with cargo ships and a small boat in the Strait of Hormuz
Oil prices remain volatile. AP

Welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog.

Oil prices are holding up at $87 per barrel this morning as investors remain locked in wait-and-see mode while monitoring new updates coming out of US-Iran negotiations and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The Iranian regime handed a major blow to peace optimism after suggestining it could deliberately prolong the war with the US until Donald Trump leaves office.

Mohammad Reza Naghdi, senior adviser to the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said dragging out the war would send a message to any future US administration that “there is a cost” to hostile advances against Iran.

“We have to attain deterrence so that the enemy never dares to attack us, so we can live with security,” he said during an appearance on PBS NewsHour.

It follows Trump and Iran clashing over which party has control of the narrow waterway. The President has said the US has “total control,” but Tehran has said it has the strait “blocked” and will not reopen until Iran’s conditions are accepted.

Earlier in the week, Trump said that “praise be to Allah”, Washington has “total control over the Strait of Hormuz”, adding: “I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!”

David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said: “While US-Iran peace efforts remained stalled and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz persisted, the focus for oil traders has shifted towards talk of slowing demand growth.”

It follows the global energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, warning oil stockpiles were “rapidly depleting” as progress stalls to get ships through the strait.

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

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