LDN Business - Brent crude jumps over 4% as Middle East tensions flare

Brent crude jumps over 4% as Middle East tensions flare, while share prices retreat

[October 08, 2026] By CHAN HO-HIM

HONG KONG (AP) — The price of Brent crude oil jumped more than 4% on Thursday as rising tensions in the Middle East added to uncertainties over supplies.

Share prices fell in Europe and Asia and U.S. futures also declined after U.S. stocks retreated under pressure from rising yields in the bond market.

Oil prices have bounced back given the persisting uncertainties over global crude supplies. The U.S. and Iran have yet to reach a deal to end their war, and a report Wednesday by The Atlantic, citing two unnamed officials, said the White House had asked the Pentagon to develop strike options against Iran before the midterm elections in November.

Early Thursday, Brent crude, the international standard, was up 4.1% at $104.32 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 4.2% to $91.94 a barrel.

In early European share trading, Germany's DAX fell 0.8% to 24,892.67 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 1% to 7,688.52. Britain's FTSE 100 was 0.6% lower at 10,392.22.

The future for the S&P 500 slipped 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7%.

In Asian trading, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.4% to 69,042.11 and South Korea’s Kospi lost 2.6% to 6,625.93.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.4% to 23,785.79, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.8% to 3,811.90.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.8% to 8,660.90.

Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 1%, and India's Sensex was down 1.7%.

Stocks once again have retreated under pressure from rising yields in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury stayed near a multi-decade high after minutes released Wednesday from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting showed that most Fed officials expect another interest rate hike this year.

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A screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. stock price at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

On Wednesday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 dropped 0.2% a day after reaching an all-time high. The Dow slipped 0.7%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 0.2% from its record.

Inflation in the U.S. remains above the Fed’s 2% target. In September, the Fed raised rates for the first time in three years by a quarter percentage point to a range of 3.75% to 4.00%.

Rising bond yields hurt stock prices, in part because companies and consumers face higher borrowing costs. Yields on U.S. Treasurys have surged as the global energy shock driven by the Iran war pushed prices higher, while the U.S. national debt has continued to grow.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury was at around 5.33% after rising as high as 5.36% on Wednesday, its highest level since 2002.

In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar rose to 158.22 Japanese yen from 158.08 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1186, down from $1.1197, as elevated yields for bonds in France and growing worries about its government debt pressured the euro.

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