Crude Oil Prices Today: A trader’s screen flickers as war rhetoric shakes markets
In the first hour of Monday trading (ET), crude oil prices today became the heartbeat of a market gripped by war and words: screens flashed red across Europe and Asia as energy costs climbed amid the conflict in Iran, then lurched the other way after US President Donald Trump said the US and Iran had held “very good and productive” talks to halt the fighting.
What moved Crude Oil Prices Today and why did markets react so fast?
At the center of the volatility sat the Strait of Hormuz, effectively blocked since the war began on February 28. The disruption matters because about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes through the waterway. As the conflict sent global fuel prices soaring, market confidence weakened: European and Asian equities sank as trading restarted on Monday, and investors faced a familiar fear—rising energy prices feeding broader economic instability.
The tension accelerated over the weekend. Trump threatened the US would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz fully reopened within 48 hours. Tehran responded that it would answer any such strikes by targeting US and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets in the region. Those threats rattled financial markets and added to fears the war would be prolonged.
Then the tone shifted. Trump said the US and Iran had held talks over halting the conflict, describing them as “very good and productive. ” He wrote that he would “POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE” for a five-day period. Oil prices plunged and stock markets rebounded after those comments.
How did stocks, bonds, and even safe havens respond?
Before the latest Trump comments, markets showed broad stress. In Europe, Germany’s DAX dipped 2% in early trading and France’s CAC 40 also fell, part of a wider Monday slide that followed a weekend with no clear signs of de-escalation in Iran or the wider Gulf region. In Asia, several key markets logged losses over 3%.
The pressure ran across asset classes: government bond yields were up, while traditional safe havens gold and silver each dropped sharply, with gold shedding more than 6% and silver more than 7%.
After Trump’s statement about talks and postponing strikes, the direction changed for some markets. The price of Brent crude sank 13%. Stocks rebounded: the FTSE 100 rose 0. 5% after having fallen more than 2% earlier. Germany’s DAX was 1. 6% higher and France’s CAC was up 1. 2%—both reversing earlier declines of about 2%.
Asia’s heavy losses, however, were locked in before the later comments. Japan’s Nikkei closed down 3. 5% and South Korea’s Kospi sank 6. 5%. The impact hit particularly hard there because Japan and South Korea are heavily dependent on oil and gas that would normally pass through the strait.
What are institutions warning about—and what comes next?
The International Energy Agency placed the market turmoil in stark terms. Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, warned the economic instability caused by the war with Iran could prove more severe than the two oil shocks of the 1970s and the aftermath of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine combined. “This crisis as things stand is now two oil crises and one gas crash put all together, ” Birol said, describing the situation as a “major, major threat” to the global economy.
That warning matters beyond the immediate spike and slump in fuel prices. Rising energy costs can complicate investors’ expectations for interest rate cuts previously anticipated later this year, because higher fuel costs add inflationary pressure and make it riskier for central banks to reduce borrowing costs.
In the UK, the political and economic focus sharpened. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will be among those attending an emergency Cobra committee meeting. The human impact has already surfaced in daily life: rising oil prices tied to the war in the Gulf created an “overnight shock” for west country farmers.
The immediate picture remains uncertain. The Strait of Hormuz has been a focal point from the start of the conflict, and the market has shown it will reprice quickly on any shift in rhetoric or risk. In that atmosphere, crude oil prices today are less a number on a chart than a live gauge of whether the next headline signals escalation—or a pause.
