Oil prices jump back toward $100 on Mideast ceasefire doubts

AFP | London

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Oil prices jumped and most stock markets fell yesterday as investors weighed the prospects of a shaky Middle East ceasefire and a re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz, crucial to restoring oil and gas shipments.

Traders were also locking in profits from Wednesday's relief rally as the first-quarter earnings season gets underway.

Equity markets across the globe had soared and crude oil futures plunged Wednesday after US President Donald Trump announced the twoweek halt in the war against Iran, and Tehran said it would reopen the waterway transporting one-fifth of the world's oil and gas. But the ceasefire has been placed in doubt, largely by Israel's ongoing attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Tehran has also said it will impose a toll on ships transiting Hormuz. The main US oil contract, West Texas Intermediate, rebounded over five percent to reach almost $100 a barrel as international calls mounted for the ceasefire to be extended after a massive wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed more than 200 people.