World shares and U.S. futures retreated on Thursday as oil prices jumped more than 2 per cent following a report by Iran’s state television that seven oil tankers caught fire and were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz.
If the report is verified, it would be the largest number of vessels damaged in the waterway in a single day since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28.
Brent crude, the international standard, gained 3.2 per cent to US$112.27 per barrel. It has been bouncing between $97 and $112 in recent days on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.
U.S. benchmark crude rose 2.8 per cent to $99.80 per barrel.
In early European trading, Germany’s DAX shed 1.1 per cent to 25,367.96, while the CAC 40 in Paris declined 1.3 per cent to 7,816.67. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.7 per cent at 10,678.67.
The future for the S&P 500 lost 1 per cent and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.7 per cent lower.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 2.7 per cent to 62,907.84 on heavy selling of big tech companies like SoftBank Group, which lost 6.9 per cent.
Computer chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron fell 7 per cent and testing equipment maker Advantest lost 6 per cent.
In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 3.5 per cent, to 5,533.77. Big memory chipmakers led the decline, with Samsung Electronics down 4 per cent. SK Hynix lost 5.5 per cent.
AI stocks, at the center of market action in recent months, are under pressure from worries that construction of data centers may slow as it is becoming increasingly expensive to borrow money.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 3 per cent to 22,934.68, and the Shanghai Composite index gave up 1.5 per cent to 3,658.03.
Taiwan’s Taiex lost 1.8 per cent.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.4 per cent to 8,793.20.
The U.S. stock market rose Wednesday following strong profit reports from SpaceX, Capital One Financial and other big companies.
The S&P 500 added 0.6 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 per cent. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1 per cent.
SpaceX helped lead the market and climbed 7.8 per cent after reporting a stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected. Elon Musk, who runs the company that makes money from artificial-intelligence technology, rockets and other businesses, also said that SpaceX took a step to consider a possible merger with Tesla, his electric-vehicle company.
Tesla rose 3.4 per cent and was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.
Other stocks rallying on profit reports that topped analysts’ expectations included Capital One Financial, which rose 2.5 per cent, and Winnebago Industries, which climbed 10.7 per cent.
Expectations are high for profit growth for all kinds of companies during the summer, and they need to meet them to justify the big runs their stock prices have made despite worries about high inflation, higher interest rates and other challenges weighing on Wall Street.
Netflix fell 5.3 per cent even though the streaming service reported a stronger profit than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on worries that Netflix’s momentum may be slowing.
In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar fell to 157.22 Japanese yen from 158.14 yen late Wednesday. The euro slipped to US$1.1231 from $1.1233.
Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press
