Oil prices rise as US stocks fall ahead of Trump's deadline for Iran

     New York, Apr 7 (AP) Oil prices are rising, and US stocks are falling Tuesday as the countdown ticks toward the latest deadline set by President Donald Trump to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges.
    The S and P 500 fell 0.7 per cent as Trump threatened that a “whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran does not meet his deadline at 8 p.m. Eastern time to open the Strait of Hormuz.
     Iranian officials, meanwhile, urged young people to form human chains to protect power plants that Trump has threatened to bomb.
    The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 210 points, or 0.5 per cent, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.1 per cent lower.
    The moves were tentative, much like they've been since the start of the war with Iran, as uncertainty reigns about whether the fighting could end soon. During just the first hour of Tuesday's trading, the Dow careened between a gain of 74 points and a loss of 425.
    The moves were sharper in the oil market, where prices have spiked because the war has snarled the production and transportation of crude in the Persian Gulf. Much of that oil exits the gulf through the Strait of Hormuz to reach customers around the world, but Iran has blocked it to enemies.
    The price for a barrel of benchmark US crude climbed 3.9 per cent to USD 116.83. Brent crude, the international standard, added 0.7 per cent to USD 110.55 and is well above its roughly USD 70 level from before the war in late February.
    The worry in markets has been that a long-term disruption will keep oil prices high for a long time and send a painful wave of inflation crashing through the global economy. Iran on Monday rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and instead said it wants a permanent end to the war.
    So far in the war, Trump has made a series of threats to blow up Iranian power plants if it doesn't open the Strait of Hormuz, but he has then delayed it several times. The possibility remains that Trump could back down again, among other scenarios, which is keeping uncertainty high.
    A year ago, Trump ultimately backed off many of the stiff tariffs that he initially threatened to put on imports from other countries, though they ended up higher than from before his second term.
    “Investors are likely to remain on edge and markets unable to establish trends, probably until there is a clear outcome later this evening: a deal, the US/Israeli strikes intensify, or Iran's retaliation becomes escalatory instead of proportional,” according to Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
    On Wall Street, companies with big fuel bills fell to some of the sharpest losses as further gains in oil prices cranked up the pressure.
    Norwegian Cruise Line Holding dropped 4.3 per cent, and United Airlines sank 3.7 per cent.
    Companies whose customers may have the least room to absorb the recent jump in gasoline prices were also struggling. Dollar Tree slid 4.8 per cent, and Dollar General fell 1.8 per cent.
    The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline across the United States has leaped to USD 4.14, according to AAA. It was below USD 3 a couple days before the United States and Israel launched attacks to begin the war in late February.
    Companies enmeshed in the cryptocurrency industry were also losers as the price of bitcoin sank. Coinbase Global dropped 4.6 per cent, and Strategy sank 4.1 per cent.
    Stocks of health insurers helped to limit the market's losses after the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Medicare Advantage payments will likely see a net average increase of 2.48 per cent in 2027. That was well ahead of what some investors expected, according to UBS analysts led by AJ Rice.
    UnitedHealth Group jumped 8 per cent, and Humana rose 5.5 per cent.
    Universal Music Group also helped to limit losses for global stock indexes after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management offered to buy the record label behind Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately USD 64 billion.
    The proposed purchase, which Pershing Square argued would clear uncertainty that's weighed on UMG's stock, would bring the company to Nevada and move its stock listing from Amsterdam to the New York Stock Exchange. UMG's stock in Amsterdam jumped 10.8 per cent but remains well below what Pershing said its bid is worth. That could indicate investor doubt that the deal will happen.
    In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe. Asian stock indexes were a touch stronger, with South Korea's Kospi up 0.8 per cent for one of the world's bigger gains.
    In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked a bit higher ahead of Trump's looming deadline. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.36 per cent from 4.34 per cent late Monday.
    That's well above its 3.97 per cent level from before the war, and the rise has pushed up rates for mortgages and other loans going to US households and businesses, which slows the economy. (AP) PY
PY

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)