Oil prices ease and world shares are mixed as energy supply worries over
Iran war remain
[March 20, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM
HONG KONG (AP) — Oil prices on Friday pared earlier gains on the
intensifying Iran war, falling back to around $108 a barrel, as Iran
strikes Gulf energy facilities, while world shares were mixed following
Wall Street losses.
U.S. futures edged up 0.1%.
Oil prices had a roller-coaster day on Thursday with the Brent crude,
the international standard, briefly surging to around $119 per barrel as
attacks by Iran on oil and gas facilities around the Gulf escalated
after Israel's attack of Iran’s key natural gas field.
In early Friday trading, Brent crude fell 0.1% to $108.51 a barrel,
following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks that he
would hold off on further attacks on Iran's gas field at the request of
U.S. President Donald Trump. Benchmark U.S. crude was down 0.2% to
$95.33 a barrel.
The Iran war, which is in its third week, has sent energy prices soaring
and is fueling global inflation worries. Concerns are also growing over
the supply of oil and gas with the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway
for the energy supply located between Iran and Oman, largely closed.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday floated the
possibility of lifting its sanctions on Iranian oil at sea in a
potential attempt to ease oil prices.
In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.4% to 10,105.39.
France's CAC 40 gained 0.7% to 7,864.67, while Germany's DAX rose 1.1%
to 23,082.53.
Asian markets were mostly lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9% to
25,277.32, while the Shanghai Composite index was down 1.2% to 3,957.05.
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 South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.3% to
5,781.20. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was closed on Friday on a holiday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.8% to 8,428.40.
Taiwan’s Taiex was 0.4% lower, while India's Sensex was up 0.8%.
On Thursday, Wall Street reported modest losses. The S&P 500 was
down 0.3% to 6,606.49. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4% to
46,021.43, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower at 22,090.69.
Shares of U.S. memory chip maker Micron Technology were down 3.8%
even though the company reported better-than-expected quarterly
results. Its shares were still up roughly 330% over the past year on
a worldwide memory shortage.
In other dealings early Friday, gold and silver prices gained. Gold
fell below $4,700 earlier, partly on inflation worries. On Friday,
gold prices gained 2% to $4,696.30 per ounce. Silver prices rose
2.7% to $73.15 an ounce.
The U.S. dollar rose to 158.48 Japanese yen from 157.76 yen. The
euro was trading at $1.1567, down from $1.1589.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
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