BANGKOK, Thailand — Oil prices resumed their upward climb and US futures were lower early Tuesday after Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning to 330,000 people in Iran’s capital Tehran. Later, US President Donald Trump called on “everyone” in the city to flee.
Fear remains that a wider war could constrict the flow of Iran’s oil to its customers. That in turn could raise gasoline prices worldwide and keep them high, though spikes in prices from previous conflicts have been brief.
Early Tuesday, US benchmark crude oil gained 31 cents to $72.08 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up 33 cents at $73.56 per barrel.
Crude had jumped 7% late last week after Israel’s initial attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets.
Early Tuesday, futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3%. Asian shares were mixed.
Israel’s evacuation warning Monday was for a part of Tehran, a city of 9.5 million, that houses the country’s state TV and police headquarters and three large hospitals, including one owned by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Trump later announced he was returning from the G7 summit in Canada a day early due to the intensifying conflict.
Israel launched waves of airstrikes on Iran Friday at the start of what it warned would be a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon, with strikes that have included attacks on oil fields. Iran has responded with missile barrages aimed at both military sites and civilian population centers.
On Monday, the mood was calm on Wall Street, as the S&P 500 climbed 0.9% to reclaim most of its drop from Friday. It closed at 6,033.11.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8% to 42,515.09, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1.5% to 19,701.21.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index climbing 0.6% to 38,547.56 as the Japanese central bank opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5%.
Chinese shares edged lower. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng slipped 0.1% to 24,038.56. The Shanghai Composite index declined 0.2% to 3,382.14.
In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.4% to 2,956.88.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 500 gave up 0.1% to 8,543.60. Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.6% and in Bangkok the SET was little changed.
US Steel rose 5.1% after Trump signed an executive order on Friday paving the way for an investment in the company by Japan’s Nippon Steel. Trump would have unique influence over the operations of US Steel under the terms of the deal.
They helped offset drops for defense contractors, which gave back some of their jumps from Friday. Lockheed Martin fell 4%, and Northrop Grumman sank 3.7%.
The price of gold receded after jumping on Friday, when investors were looking for someplace safe to park their cash. An ounce of gold fell $14.60 to $3,402.40 per ounce.
Investors have other concerns, key among them Trump’s tariffs, which still threaten to slow the US economy and raise inflation if Washington doesn’t win trade deals with other countries.