US stocks fell and oil ticked back up above $100 a barrel after earlier dips in the session as investors braced for a possibly prolonged war in Iran and the White House announced a temporary lift on Russian energy sanctions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped more than 100 points, or 0.3%, Friday, while the S&P 500 fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.9%. Investors were hoping the pause on sanctions could ease price pressures from Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for 20% of the world’s oil supply. All three indexes fell for the third straight week.
The “narrowly tailored, short-term” sanctions pause will last until April 11 and “applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government,” Bessent said Thursday night.
Brent crude oil prices rose 2.7% to settle at $103.14, after earlier dipping to roughly $99. Brent gained 11% this week. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3% to $98.71. It jumped nearly 9% this week.
National average gasoline prices jumped to a whopping $3.63 a gallon – a more than 20% increase over the past month, according to AAA.
Investors also braced for a potentially prolonged conflict in Iran after President Trump said the US has “plenty of time” to fight the war.
“We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise, yet, if you read the Failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think that we are not winning,” the commander-in-chief wrote in a late night Truth Social post.
“We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time – Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.”
Markets are coming off steep losses after Iran’s new supreme leader on Thursday vowed to maintain the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on oil tankers ramped up.
“Certainly, the lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz should still be used,” Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, son of slain ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in his first message to the public, following reports that he was unconscious after being severely injured in the US-Israeli strikes that killed his father and other family members.
At least six foreign vessels have reportedly been attacked in the Gulf in less than 48 hours, according to authorities, as images showed oil tankers ablaze in the water.
US forces have destroyed several Iranian navy vessels, including 16 minelayers near the strait, officials said.
Analysts have warned that oil prices could remain elevated even if the conflict ends soon, since it will take time to fix damaged infrastructure and restart oil field production overseas – with an Iranian official warning that oil prices could spike as high as $200 a barrel.
“Get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security, which you have destabilised,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s military command, said Wednesday, according to Reuters.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright called that scenario “unlikely” on Thursday.
“I would say unlikely, but we are focused on the military operation and solving a problem,” he told CNN when asked whether prices would hit $200 per barrel.
Trump initially said the conflict could last “four weeks or so,” but he has since declared the war “won” while also saying the US needs to “finish the job.”
After the president called for total surrender, War Secretary Pete Hegseth pledged the US will “go as far as we need” to topple the Iranian regime.
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