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Brent crude breaches $100 as US strikes Iran intensify
The United States has carried out a thirteenth consecutive night of airstrikes against Iranian military targets, hitting command centres, UAV depots, communication sites and naval installations in the Hormuz corridor. Iranian state media reported four deaths and several injuries in the Khuzestan province, while U.S. Central Command said the operations aim to curb threats to commercial shipping.
The attacks have reignited concerns over the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea shipping routes. In response, Brent crude rose more than 7 % in a single session, breaking the $100‑per‑barrel mark for the first time since May. The surge fed inflation worries, pushed gold lower and lifted U.S. Treasury yields, prompting a risk‑off tilt in global equity markets – India’s Nifty and Sensex opened lower and U.S. indexes fell sharply.
Analysts linked the price jump to broader supply‑risk factors, including reduced tanker traffic through Hormuz, a temporary shutdown of Kazakhstan’s Caspian export terminal and Houthi attacks on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea. The rise in oil prices has also raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer.
"They wanted to punish Iran. Instead they punished themselves with triple‑digit oil," Iranian Parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf wrote on X, underscoring the economic backlash of the escalation.