Oil prices jumped again Thursday on rising US-Iran tensions, lending support to equity markets despite another round of dreary economic data in the US, Europe and elsewhere.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned the US of a “decisive response” after President Donald Trump said Wednesday he ordered the US Navy to destroy Iranian boats that harass American ships in the Gulf.
The back-and-forth led to a second straight big increase for benchmark US crude contract West Texas Intermediate, which gained 20 per cent to end at $16.50 a barrel.
The benchmark crude collapsed Monday to an unprecedented low of minus $40.32, reflecting a supply glut that has left the US with little remaining empty crude storage capacity.
