NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks dipped early on Monday, giving back a fraction of their recent bounty as oil prices jumped following Iran's renewed closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts described on Monday's early losses as a mild retreat following an almost unbroken string of gains so far in April. "The sell-off reaction to the bad news has, throughout the course of this entire war, been much less in terms of percentage moves than the celebrations of potential end of the war," said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. About five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 per cent at 49,417.01. The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent to 7,115.44, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also lost 0.2 per cent at 24,430.94.
Meanwhile, European stocks fell on Monday as oil prices surged over fears hostilities could resume in the weeks-long Middle East war. Investors were on edge approaching the end of the US-Iran ceasefire, with Iran insisting it has no plan to attend a new round of negotiations with the United States. "The market mood is very different at the start of the week compared to Friday," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.
Crude had plunged on Friday after the Islamic republic said it would again allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas usually passes. But world oil prices bounced on Monday as Iran closed the waterway and said the US blockade and seizure of an Iranian cargo ship breached the two-week ceasefire. — AFP
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