Oil prices rose and Asian equities fell Wednesday amid fresh concerns about Middle East supplies after UK Maritime Trade Operations reported nine attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz so far this month, half the total for all of September across the waterway and Persian Gulf combined. Brent North Sea Crude climbed 0.9 percent to $101.48 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate rose 1.0 percent to $90.29 per barrel, rebounding from a retreat that had earlier pushed Brent below $100 and WTI below $90 on reports that Middle East exports excluding Iran were returning toward pre-war levels. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 percent to 70074.13, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.7 percent to 24,108.15, and Singapore, Seoul, Wellington and Taipei also declined, while Sydney and Manila edged up and Shanghai was closed for a holiday. The pullback followed another record session on Wall Street, where Nvidia's market capitalisation reached almost $5.7 trillion and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were lifted by a rush back into the AI trade, with analysts expecting S&P 500 profits to jump by a quarter year-on-year. Yemen's Houthis claimed an attack on Riyadh's main airport even as Yemen's military said it had removed the pro-Iran group from areas around the Bab al-Mandab strait and the port city of Mocha, and top oil officials warned that global stockpiles are running low, weakening governments' ability to withstand the crisis.
NVIDIA CorporationBrent climbed 0.9% to $101.48 on fresh Middle East supply concerns from Hormuz attacks.
WTI rose 1.0% to $90.29 as escalating Strait of Hormuz tanker attacks threaten Middle East supply.
