Shares advance, oil prices settle sharply lower as markets shrug off Iran conflict

By Chibuike Oguh

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Global equity markets advanced on Monday while oil prices settled sharply lower after hitting multi-month highs, as markets shrugged off the effects of the escalating Middle East conflict, with Iran firing retaliatory airstrikes against U.S. bases in Qatar.

Wall Street’s main indexes finished higher, with 10 out of 11 of the benchmark S&P 500 subsectors advancing. Energy stocks were the biggest losers on the session.

Equities had pared gains following news on Monday that the Qatari government had closed its airspace as it braced for an Iranian air strike against U.S. forces stationed in the country.

Iran’s military said it carried out a missile attack on the Al Udeid U.S. airbase in Qatar. But U.S. officials said no U.S. personnel were killed or injured in the attack on the airbase, the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East. Iran’s attacks were in retaliation against U.S. air strikes against Persian nuclear sites in support of an Israeli military campaign.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.89% to 42,581.78, the S&P 500 rose 0.96% to 6,025.17 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.94% to 19,630.98.

European shares finished down 0.28%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.70% overnight. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.49%.

Israel bombed Evin prison in northern Tehran on Monday, a potent symbol of Iran’s governing system, and Revolutionary Guard command centers responsible for internal security in the Tehran area. The Iranian parliament had approved the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane in the global oil trade.

"The market being higher signals a risk-on sentiment, which is somewhat surprising considering that we had a series of very volatile events over the weekend with U.S. participation in the (Iran) bombing efforts with Israel," said Andrew Wells, chief investment officer at SanJac Alpha in Houston.

"The lesson we take from this is that these headline events are having less and less effect on the market since tariffs went on - the so-called Liberation Day - which was the big volatile event," Wells said.

Brent Crude futures closed down 7.2% at $71.48 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude eased 7.2% to $68.51. The Brent and WTI crude benchmarks touched five-month highs of $81.40 and $78.40, respectively.

Iran’s attacks are seen as an effort at de-escalation, as it informed the U.S. via diplomatic channels ahead of attacks on its Qatar base, a senior regional source told Reuters.

It has also not taken action to disrupt shipping traffic going through the Strait of Hormuz - which is only about 33 km (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point with around a quarter of global oil trade and 20% of liquefied natural gas supplies passing through it.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said on Monday the time to cut interest rates appeared imminent as she was increasingly worried about labor market risks and was less concerned that high import taxes would cause an ongoing inflation problem.

The dollar strengthened 0.08% to 146.15 against the Japanese yen and weakened 0.68% to 0.81260 against the Swiss franc. The euro was up 0.49% at $1.157675, rebounding from earlier losses following Bowman’s comments.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.5% to 98.39.

Gold prices pared early losses and settled higher. Spot gold rose 0.23% to $3,375.71. U.S. gold futures settled 0.3% higher at $3,395.