Oil prices surged again on Sunday, reaching $100 per barrel for the first time since July 2022. This surge was driven by the ongoing ripple effects of the U.S. war on Iran, which has impacted global markets.
U.S. crude oil futures surged over 25%, reaching nearly $115 per barrel, while Brent, the global benchmark, experienced a significant jump of over 20%, reaching $110 per barrel.
In addition to the rise in oil prices, the S&P 500 futures plummeted by 2.3%, the Dow futures dropped more than 1,000 points, and the Nasdaq 100 futures slid by 2.7%. These indicators suggest that U.S. stocks were likely to continue their downward trend from last week.
In addition to surging oil prices, U.S. retail gas prices reached a national average of over $3.45 per gallon. The last time oil and gas prices surged this much was immediately following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
South Korea’s Kospi index plummeted by 9%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped over 7.5%, and Taiwan’s TWSE experienced a nearly 6% decline. Australia’s ASX 200 fell by 4.3%, while the Hang Seng index, based in Hong Kong, saw a decline exceeding 3%.
Consumers have already begun seeing increased prices at their local gas stations, and some analysts predict prices will rise further.
“I now estimate the chance of the national average reaching $4/gal in the next month is now 80%,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said on X.
De Haan added that he saw an 85% chance of diesel fuel hitting $5 per gallon in the next week.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly dismissed concerns about the rising price of oil and gas since the war began, telling Reuters on Friday that “I don’t have any concern about it” and adding that prices will “drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit.”
