Oil eases and world shares mixed as Iran war shows no clear
de-escalation signs
[March 31, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — Oil prices eased and world shares were mixed on Tuesday
as there were no clear signs of a de-escalation of the Iran war.
In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 10,191.75.
France's CAC 40 was up 0.5% to 7,810.26, while Germany's DAX was trading
0.8% higher at 22,740.35.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.6% to 51,063.72. Losses after the Iran war
began on Feb. 28 have wiped out the gains it made from the beginning of
the year.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 4.3% to 5,052.46. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged
up 0.2% to 24,788.14, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.8% to
3,891.86.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3%, while Taiwan’s Taiex was 2.5%
lower.
U.S. futures were up 0.8% early Tuesday.
With the Iran war in its fifth week, attacks in the Middle East
continued and progress toward an end to the war remained unclear. Brent
crude futures were 0.6% lower at $106.73 a barrel on Tuesday, while
benchmark U.S. crude dropped 0.5% to $102.36 per barrel.
Oil prices have surged in March with Brent crude prices rising more than
40% since the start of the Iran war.
On Tuesday, an Iranian drone hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai waters
and caused a fire, Dubai authorities said. Early Tuesday, the U.S. and
Israel hit Iran in a new wave of strikes.
The U.S.’s Gulf allies were privately making a case to the White House
that Iran has not been weakened enough, officials said, and were urging
U.S. President Donald Trump to keep fighting. Meanwhile, Trump has said
the U.S. is in negotiation with Iran’s parliamentary speaker, though
Iran denied such talks were happening.
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A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea
Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign
exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center
left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank
headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP
Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
 U.S. gas prices on Tuesday surged
past an average of $4 a gallon, the first time since 2022, as the
global fuel prices soar on Iran war impacts. Also on Tuesday,
official data showed that Europe’s inflation rate in March jumped to
2.5%, up from February's 1.9%.
Maritime traffic disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly
a fifth of the world's oil normally passes through, remains the pain
point for global energy supplies. U.S. Secretary of State Marco
Rubio said Trump has “options available” in response to Tehran’s
threats to control the strait, after Iran was said to have
effectively created a “toll booth” there.
Wall Street stocks were mixed on Monday. The S&P 500 dropped 0.4% to
6,343.72, the Nasdaq composite lost 0.7% to 20,794.64, while the Dow
Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 45,216.14.
Shares of food distributor Sysco fell 15.3%, after it said it would
be acquiring supplier Jetro Restaurant Depot in a $29 billion deal.
In other dealings early Tuesday, gold and silver prices were up.
Gold’s price was 0.6% higher at $4,584.10 an ounce, and silver
prices rose 3.7% to $73.17 per ounce.
The U.S. dollar was at 159.64 Japanese yen, down from 159.71
Japanese yen. The euro was trading at $1.1468, up from $1.1465.
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