World shares are mixed and oil prices climb as Iran threatens to block
Middle East energy exports
[July 15, 2026] By
YURI KAGEYAMA
TOKYO (AP) — World shares were mixed on Wednesday and oil prices climbed
after Iran threatened to block Middle East energy exports now that the
U.S. has resumed its blockade of Iranian ports.
Stock price gains overall were moderate given worries that the United
States and Iran may return to an all-out war. Renewed attacks in the
Middle East have raised the risks of further disruptions of transport of
oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing oil prices higher.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Wednesday to halt all
energy exports from the Middle East over the U.S. blockade. U.S.
President Donald Trump announced Monday that the blockade was resumed as
an interim agreement on ending the war unraveled.
“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone
or for no one,” said the statement by the Iranian side.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.6% to $85.23 a barrel,
while benchmark U.S. crude gained 0.7% to $79.89 a barrel.
“The U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding signed last month has proved
to be anything but. The two sides are once again exchanging military
strikes, and they hold completely different views on the state of
affairs in the Strait of Hormuz,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst
at KCM Trade.
“With shipping around the Gulf becoming increasingly fraught with
danger, traffic flows are declining once more,” he said.
In early European trading, France's CAC 40 rose 0.5% to 8,371.11, while
the German DAX shed 0.5% to 25,014.37. Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.2%
to 10,513.40.
South Korea’s Kospi led gains in Asia, surging 6.2% to 7,284.41 as
prices rebounded from a recent sell-off in semiconductor stocks. Shares
in computer chipmaker SK Hynix rose 8.8%, while those of Samsung
Electronics surged 6.3%.
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A man walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's
Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in
Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
 Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose
1.5% to finish at 68,751.51.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 8,841.10.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 1.4% to 24,681.10, while the Shanghai
Composite lost 0.3% to 3,955.58 after the Chinese government
reported the economy expanded at a 4.3% annualized pace in
April-June, slowing sharply from 5% in the first quarter of the
year.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks rallied following a report that showed U.S.
inflation was not as bad last month as economists expected. It said
U.S. consumers had to pay prices for gasoline, food and other costs
of living that were 3.5% higher last month than a year earlier.
The S&P 500 added 0.4% to recover some of its 0.8% loss from the day
before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1% and
the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9%.
Investors are watching for earnings reports this week from various
global companies.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 162.32 Japanese yen
from 162.26 yen. The euro cost $1.1421, down from $1.1423.
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