Reuters
- Oil prices are surging after an Iranian oil tanker was hit by a suspected missile off the coast of Saudi Arabia.
- Brent Crude Oil and West Texas both moved 1.8% higher on the news.
- Elsewhere in markets, US stocks are set to rise on the hopes of a possible trade deal after Trump said talks between the US and China went well. The Hang Seng closed 2.4% higher
- View Markets Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Oil prices are surging after an Iranian oil tanker was hit by a suspected missile off the coast of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
According to Iranian state news agency IRNA, the tanker named Sabity was 60 miles from the Arabian port. From reports it seems that “only the body of the ship” was damaged in the incident.
Brent crude oil surged, 1.7% as did West Texas Intermediate on the news, as trader fears about Iran/Saudi tensions flared.
“This has reminded traders that this is a dangerous, volatile region,” said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com “Geopolitical risk premia are back – at least for today.”
Elsewhere, Asian stocks rallied on close, with the Hang Seng and the jumping 2.4% and the Nikkei 1.2%, on the hopes that a trade war truce would be agreed to between China and the US.
On Thursday evening Trump tweeted, “Big day of negotiations with China. They want to make a deal, but do I? I meet with the Vice Premier tomorrow at The White House.”
Wilson added that among traders, “There seems to be increasing optimism that a narrow deal involving some tariff relief, currency ‘pact’ and China buying more US agricultural products, can be done.”
“By lowering expectations and the scope of any agreement ahead of the talks, the Chinese have apparently presented a framework by which a limited, skinny deal can be brokered,” he said.
The pound also reaffirmed its gains made on Thursday evening after on the news that Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, and Irish leader Leo Varadkar said that there was a “pathway” to a deal after private meetings. It moved 0.8% higher against the dollar on Friday morning.
Here’s a look at stocks around the world at 10 am in London (5 am EST):
- US stocks are set to rise with futures underlying the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq all rose 0.9%, 0.9% and 1.1%, respectively.
- In Europe, the DAX jumped 1.8% while the Euro Stoxx 50 moved 1.3% higher.
- In Asia, stocks closed higher with the Nikkei up 1.2%, the Shanghai Composite 0.9% and the Hang Seng 2.4%.
- Gold also moved 0.2% higher on Friday.
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