Oil Rises to $10 as US-Iran Talks Stall, Markets
React
Oil
Prices
·
Brent
crude
rose over 3% to $108/barrel.
·
WTI
crude
climbed above $95/barrel.
·
Shipping risks:
o Strait
of Hormuz remains unsafe.
o Houthi
militia advances threaten Red Sea shipments.
o Saudi East-West pipeline
temporarily shut after drone attack.
·
Prices briefly eased last week when Saudi
exports increased with U.S. Navy support.
Market
Impact
·
Bond
yields:
o 10-year
Treasury above 5.2%,
30-year above 5.5%
→ borrowing costs rise.
·
Stocks:
o U.S.
futures: S&P 500 down 0.5%.
o Asia:
China -2%, South Korea -2.7%, Hong Kong +0.5%.
o Europe:
Stoxx 600 up <0.5%.
Fuel
Prices
·
Gasoline:
steady at $4.48/gallon (up
50% since war began).
·
Diesel: $6.45/gallon, up
70% since war’s start.
·
Gas prices usually lag crude price
changes.
Political
Context
·
Trump rejected Iran’s cease-fire proposal
to reopen Strait of Hormuz, calling it “unacceptable.”
·
Iran’s FM Abbas Araghchi said Trump’s
rejection was only a “first reaction.”
·
Rising energy costs ahead of U.S. midterms
frustrate voters; some Republicans call for war’s end.
[ABS News Service/28.09.2026]
Oil prices jumped on Monday (28.09.2026) amid signs that Iran
and the United States remain far apart in negotiating a resumption of energy
from the Persian Gulf.
Bond yields, which shot up last week, stayed at decades-high
levels. The 10-year Treasury yield, which underpins corporate and consumer
borrowing costs, was above 5.2 percent. The 30-year yield was above 5.5
percent. Higher yields make borrowing more expensive. Stocks around the world
were mostly lower on Monday.
On Saturday, President Trump publicly rejected a cease-fire proposal offered by Iran last week to reopen the Strait of Hormuz,
calling it “unacceptable.” Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, called Mr.
Trump’s rejection a “first reaction” and said he awaited “definitive news to be conveyed
through intermediaries.”
The fighting has driven up energy prices ahead of the midterm
elections, frustrating voters who have been dealing with the rising cost of
living. A growing number of Republicans are speaking out against the war, with
some calling for its immediate end.
·
The price of Brent crude, the
global benchmark for oil, rose more than 3 percent to about $108 a barrel.
·
West Texas Intermediate crude,
the U.S. benchmark, was trading over $95 a barrel.
·
Ship operators in the Persian
Gulf remain wary of sending vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital
waterway between Iran and Oman. Advances by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia
in Yemen have threatened oil shipments through the Red Sea, an alternative
route to the Persian Gulf used by Saudi Arabia to get oil out to global
markets. Saudi authorities had to temporarily shut the critical East-West pipeline that shuttles oil from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, blaming
a drone attack by an Iranian-backed Iraqi
militia.
·
The price of Brent crude briefly
dropped below $100 a barrel last week on signs that Saudi Arabia had increased
its exports through the Strait of Hormuz with help from the U.S. Navy. There
were also reports that the Saudis were close to reopening the East-West
pipeline.
·
Futures on the S&P 500
pointed to a 0.5 percent decline when stocks resume trading in the United
States on Monday.
·
Stocks in Asia were mostly down.
In mainland China, stocks tumbled about 2 percent, and the KOSPI in South Korea
fell 2.7 percent. The only index to gain was the Hang Seng Stock Index in Hong
Kong, which rose 0.5 percent.
·
In Europe, the Stoxx 600, a broad
index that tracks the region’s largest companies, was up less than half a
percent.
·
Gas prices were unchanged on
Monday, at a national average of about $4.48 a gallon, according to the AAA
motor club. Prices have increased significantly since the war began, raising
the cost for drivers by more than 50 percent.
·
Gas prices don’t move in lock
step with crude, usually trailing increases or decreases by a few days.
·
The average price of diesel was
$6.45 on Monday, up more than 70 percent since the start of the war.