US mkts mixed, oil prices fall as Trump’s deadline for Iran to open Strait looms

Trading on Wall Street was subdued, and oil prices retreated modestly as Israel and the United States carried out a wave of attacks that killed 25 people in Iran on Monday ahead of US President Donald Trump’s deadline for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Futures for the S&P 500 ticked up 0.1 per cent, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 per cent.

Nasdaq futures gained 0.3 per cent. Iran’s South Pars natural gas field was among the targets hit on Monday. Iran responded with missile fire on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbours while mediators circulated a new ceasefire proposal.

Among those killed in one of the attacks on Tehran was the head of intelligence for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, according to Iranian state media and Israel’s defence minister.

Trump, whose deadline expires Monday night Washington time, said that if no deal was reached to reopen the strait, the US would hit Iran’s power plants and other infrastructure targets and send the country “back to the Stone Age.” “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” he threatened in a social media post on Easter Sunday, adding that if Iran did not open the strait “, you’ll be living in Hell.”

In an effort to stop the fighting, Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators have sent Iran and the US a proposal calling for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to give time to try and find a way to end the war, two Mideast officials said.

Iran and the US have not responded to the proposal, sent late Sunday night to both Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, the officials said. Despite the new attacks, threats and Trump’s looming deadline, oil prices fell early Monday. Benchmark US crude dropped USD 1.40 to USD 110.14 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 45 cents to USD 108.58 a barrel. Energy markets were closed on Friday, but prices have been surging for weeks on fears that the Iran war will drag on longer than expected.

US crude is up more than 60 per cent since the war started five weeks ago, while Brent is up close to 50 per cent. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 finished 0.6 per cent higher at 53,413.68. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.4 per cent to 5,450.33. Trading was closed in Australia for Easter; in Hong Kong and Shanghai for a traditional Chinese holiday, and in France, Germany and Britain in observance of Easter.

The US relies on the Persian Gulf for only a fraction of the oil it imports, but oil is a commodity and prices are set in a global market. Some nations, like resource-poor Japan, import a large portion of their energy needs and rely heavily on access to the Strait of Hormuz. Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told lawmakers recently that Japan was releasing its reserves and was working on alternative routes.

South Korea’s trade ministry said it plans to send at least five ships to Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks to establish new oil transport routes in the Red Sea. “As we kick off the first full trading week of April, the word uncertainty is paramount.

Last year, it was centred on the impact of Liberation Day’s tariffs; this year, it’s the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing Iranian War,” said Jay Woods, analyst at Freedom Capital Markets in New York. In Asian markets, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index ended higher. Markets were closed in Hong Kong and Shanghai for a holiday. “