Without signs of a ceasefire and amid threats of a ground intervention, crude oil does not give an inch. The price of a barrel of Brent crude hovers this Monday above 115 dollars, reaching close to 117 dollars a barrel during the first hours of the day in the trading of its futures contracts.
The war in Iran continues and with it the rise of energy products. And neither the events nor the messages conveyed by the protagonists incite to think of a de-escalation of the conflict.
In an interview in the Financial Times, US President Donald Trump acknowledged that what he would most like would be to take over Iranian oil, leading to a possible ground intervention on Kharg Island.
Located in the Persian Gulf, 25 kilometers south of the Iranian coast, through this island passes more than 90% of the country's oil exports.
The conflict, on the other hand, increases its fronts with the incorporation of the Houthi militias of Yemen, which until now had remained on the sidelines of the attacks and this weekend launched an offensive against Israel.
The escalation puts Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports in check, threatening transit through the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, the southern exit of the Red Sea towards the Indian Ocean and an alternative before the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Stocks flat or down
The Ibex started the first session of the week with a slight setback, but managed to turn the situation around after the first moments of trading.
The Spanish selective presents at midday a slight increase to 0.45%, above 16,800 points.
The general tone of the markets is flat or slightly down, with slight upturns in London (+1.17%) or Euro-Stoxx-50 (+0.77%).
Frankfurt (-1.38%) or Paris (-0.87%) present, on the contrary, red numbers at midday.
Mixed fortunes in the US stock markets. The Nasdaq index suffers with losses of 2.15% while Dow-Jones (0.61%) and SP-500 (0.61%) still resist in the ‘green’.