David Mchugh and Jiang Junzhe, Associated Press
Frankfurt, Germany (AP) – Oil surges and stocks declined, investors sought safety after Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear and military targets on Friday, causing wider instability in the Middle East.
The S&P 500 futures fell 0.9% before the opening bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 1%. Nasdaq futures were slid 1.1%.
US benchmark crude rose $4.73 (6.9%) to $72.77 per barrel. This is the greatest benefit since the early days of Russia’s attack on Ukraine more than three years ago. International standard, Brent crude, climbed between $4.58 and $73.94 per barrel, and was also the biggest day jump since the Russian invasion.
Richard Joswick, recent oil director at S&P Global Commodity Insights, said crude prices are likely to rise in the short term, but the key question is whether exports will be affected. “When Iran and Israel traded attacks earlier, prices initially skyrocketed, but fell when things didn’t escalate and it became clear that there was no impact on oil supply,” he wrote in an email analysis.
“The premium on oil price risk could rise sharply, especially if we use targets other than Israeli, if Iran engages in a wider retaliation attack,” Joswick said.
China is the only customer of Iranian oil, but he said it can search for alternatives from Middle Eastern exporters and Russia.
Iran’s oil trade is restricted by Western sanctions and import bans, with Israel exporting only small amounts of oil and petroleum products.
Boeing’s shares fell 1% after one of the aerospace giant planes fell nearly 5% on Thursday when crashed in India, killing everyone except one of the 242 people on board. The plane operated by Air India was the first fatal crash of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner since it began service in 2009.
The cause of the crash is unknown.
GE Aerospace, which manufactures engines for Boeing, is nearly 2% lower after it announced it would postpone investors’ day next week in light of a tragic crash.
At noon in Europe, Germany’s DAX fell by 1.3%, while Paris’ CAC 40 gave up 0.9%. The UK FTSE 100 slipped 0.2%.
The 2010 Treasury yield fell to 4.35% from 4.41% in the second half of Wednesday, down from around 4.80% this year.
In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 144.12 yen early on Friday, and the euro eased to 1.1511 yen. The US Treasury yield in 2010 fell to 4.35%. Bond yields and prices move in the opposite direction.
Treasury and the dollar often rise when investors feel less likely to take risks.
Later on Friday there will be a University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Report.
Next week, it will bring a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting to determine benchmark interest rates. The near-unanimous hope on Wall Street is that the US Central Bank will once again be put on the putt.
The Fed is hesitant to lower interest rates and is waiting to see how much of President Donald Trump’s tariffs hurt the economy and raise inflation, which has been put on hold this year after cutting late last year.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9% to 37,834.25, while Seoul’s Kospi fell 0.9% to 2,894.62. Hong Kong’s Hangsen retreated to 0.6% to 23,892.56, while the Shanghai Composite Index was lost at 0.8% to 3,377.00. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2% to 8,547.40.
“The Israeli attack on Iran brings us the top 10 of our global risks, but we expect the Asian market to recover quickly as it is relatively limited in its conflict exposure and increased relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are not affected.”
AP Business Writer Matt Ott contributed. Jiang Junzhe reported from Hong Kong.
Original issue: June 13th, 2025 7:32am EDT
