European Shares Set To Plunge As Oil Soars After Tanker Attacks

(RTTNews) - European stocks may drift lower on Thursday as oil prices soared, reviving concerns about inflation and interest rates.

Brent crude prices surged over 9 percent to $100.31 a barrel, adding to gains in the previous session following reports that two international oil tankers were attacked in the northern Persian Gulf near Iraq and Kuwait. WTI crude futures were up more than 7 percent at $93.79.

Two tankers believed to have involved in an STS transfer operation have been struck in Iraqi waters, prompting the nation's oil terminals to suspend operations and posing a threat to the safety of maritime navigation and oil activities in Iraqi territorial water.

Oman has since shifted all vessels ?out of its main oil export terminal at Mina ?Al Fahal, which avoids the Strait of Hormuz.

The terminal has been one of the last places for oil tankers to load Persian Gulf crude for global markets.

Iran has said the world should be ready for oil at $200 per barrel if the conflict and shipping disruptions intensify.

U.S. stock futures declined and Asian markets were deep in the red as the prospect of a quick end to the war in West Asia thinned and trade tensions resurfaced.

The Trump administration has launched a Section 301 probe targeting excess manufacturing capacity in 16 major trading partners, a move aimed at rebuilding tariff pressure after the Supreme Court struck down a key tariff policy.

The investigation could lead to new tariffs against countries including China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea and Mexico.

Asian currencies weakened, the dollar rose and gold dipped below $5,150 an ounce as reports of an Iranian blockade impacting global energy shipments overshadowed an announcement by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that it will release a record 400 million barrels of emergency oil reserves to stabilize global markets.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed for a second straight session as another increase in oil prices on growing rhetoric about the Iran war and worries about a protracted confrontation overshadowed tame inflation data.

Treasuries slid across the curve despite CPI inflation rising 2.4 percent annually in February, in line with expectations.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up marginally while the S&P 500 ended flat with a negative bias and the Dow dipped 0.6 percent.

European stocks closed lower on Wednesday amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, with three more vessels hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz and American forces sinking 16 mine-layers in an operation framed as a pre-emptive strike against Iran's plans to mine the waterway, which carries 20 percent of the world's oil and gas supply.

The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.6 percent. The German DAX lost 1.4 percent, France's CAC 40 slipped 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.6 percent.