Oil Rises as Traders Weigh Middle East Developments

By Ronnie Harui

Oil rose in Asia on Thursday as traders weighed developments related to the Middle East conflict.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 1.2% to $91.41 a barrel and front-month Brent crude oil futures advanced 1.0% to $103.23 a barrel, ICE data showed.

President Trump said Wednesday that talks with Iran are occurring and that the Iranian regime wants "to make a deal so badly" but is afraid to say so. Iran has rejected a U.S. proposal to end the war, according to state media, but is listening as mediators try to open the door for the two sides to meet, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing mediators.

Meanwhile, several Arab states were targeted as they called on Iran to halt repeated strikes. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait both said their air defenses were intercepting Iranian missile and drone attacks, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a number of drones, and Bahrain extinguished a fire in a governorate that faces Iran across the Persian Gulf.

"The markets will run out of patience if the two sides don't get close to reaching a deal soon," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com. "Risks remain tilted to the downside for major stock averages, and upside for crude oil," the analyst added.

Asian equity markets were mixed. South Korea's Kospi fell 2.5% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 1.2%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average edged 0.3% higher and Singapore's FTSE Straits Times Index rose 0.6%.

Write to Ronnie Harui at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-25-26 2243ET