Oil prices jump 5%, pushing Treasury yields higher and stocks lower as Iranian attacks disrupt tanker traffic

Oil prices jumped as much as 5% Thursday, sending stocks nosediving and pushing Treasury yields higher as fresh Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz disrupted tanker traffic. By approximately 12:25 p.m. ET, Brent crude oil futures rose 3.5% to $103.72 a barrel – on track for its highest closing price in weeks – and West Texas Intermediate crude increased 3.2% to $91.10 after data revealed daily traffic had trickled to a mere fraction of pre-war levels. Reports that President Trump could soon order US forces to resume a large-scale operation in Iran had multiplied traders’ fears, sending the US 10-year Treasury yield higher to 5.294% – reversing the previous day’s declines. Fresh Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted tanker traffic. AP Photo/Amirhosein Khorgooi It later dipped back down to 5.267% after Trump confirmed in a Thursday afternoon Truth Social post that the US “will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd.” The 10-year yield has risen for 10 of the past 12 trading days, hovering near a 24-year high. A global bond sell-off has pushed yields around the world higher, as investors fear persistent inflation and more interest-rate hikes . The Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell 96 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq tumbled 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively. National average gasoline prices have remained stubbornly above $4 a gallon amid the war with Iran. Diesel, which is used for home heating oil and transportation, meaning it can impact food and apparel prices, has soared higher than $6 a gallon. Explore More Jeff Bezos reveals AI vision that could transform the American workweek Chrysler Building to be restored, modernized thanks to $235M lease deal with Rockefeller Center owner China plots major move south of the border as auto exec shares grim outlook for industry The US had partially restored traffic through the Persian Gulf, with sailors reportedly being offered as much as $25,000 a trip to make the dangerous voyage – but Tehran responded by ramping up its attacks on commercial vessels. Producers off the US Gulf Coast were also forced to slash production due to an intensifying hurricane, further restricting supply – and threatening to keep prices elevated. The Atlantic reported Wednesday that Trump is weighing whether to resume strikes on Iran ahead of the midterms, which are less than a month away, though he denied this report. He had previously said the US would likely resume strikes immediately after the consequential elections. Any escalation would mark an end to a tremulous three-month stalemate between Washington and Tehran, and likely reheat inflation fears, as Americans headed to the polls are already concerned about affordability. National average gasoline prices have remained stubbornly above $4 a gallon. AFP via Getty Images Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, told The Post that the president wants to see lower prices at the pump and is taking action to ease temporary oil flow disruptions. “President Trump had the courage to do what his predecessors did not: ensure the Iranian terrorist regime never obtains a nuclear weapon. He remains committed to unleashing American energy dominance, cutting costs, and putting more money back in the pockets of hardworking American families,” Rogers said. On Tuesday, just seven commodity vessels passed through the strait, marking the lowest total since July 23 as attacks on tankers reached their highest level since the start of the war, according to data analytics firm Kpler. “Crude crossing the strait fell 27% from a wartime high the week before, to at least 10.1 million barrels a day,” Kpler analysts Emmanuel Belostrino and Yui Torikata wrote in a note Tuesday. “That is back to its September average, but 74% of its pre-war level.” The previous week, from Sept. 28 through Oct. 4, daily traffic in the strait averaged fewer than 23 ships a day, according to data from MarineTraffic. That’s a far drop from the hundreds of vessels that transited the waterway each day before the war.