Middle East Crisis Live: Oil Prices Climb after Trump Defends Iran War in Address to the Nation

In the immediate aftermath of Donald Trump’s address investors were back to selling almost everything except the US dollar and sending oil prices higher. US stock futures slid 1% while European futures sank over 1.5%. Asian stocks were clobbered, with Japan’s Nikkei down 1.8% and South Korea’s Kospi index sliding 3.6%.

“We have no additional certainty or clarity around timeline from this address and this is what the market was looking for,” said Jon Withaar, senior portfolio manager at Pictet Asset Management in Singapore.

The fact that we can expect 2-3 more weeks of action, boots on the ground were not ruled out and that threats to hit infrastructure were reiterated will put the market back on the defensive, particularly as we come into the long weekend.“

“The only thing that really matters is whether the strait of Hormuz will open soon. Trump’s speech doesn’t imply this is likely to happen as quickly as the markets were expecting,” said Prashan Newnaha, senior rates strategist at TD Securities.