15 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Week of Middle East Conflict Pushes Oil Prices Higher
Fears of a spiraling Middle East war put Wall Street in a holding pattern this week, with oil prices grinding higher and choppy stock trading leaving major U.S. indexes little changed.
Brent crude futures, the international pricing benchmark, closed Friday at $77.01 a barrel, an 11% jump since Israel launched a ferocious air campaign against Iran. Traders feared a worst-case scenario in which Tehran could shock the global economy by cutting off ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for oil and gas supplies.
