World shares are mixed as oil continues to climb

World shares were mixed Friday following a retreat on Wall Street, while the price of oil resumed its upward climb, hitting its highest level in nearly two years. US futures fell as the war with Iran entered its seventh day, with Israeli airstrikes pounding the capitals of Iran and Lebanon. The future for the S&P 500 dropped 0.3 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 per cent.

In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.1 per cent to 10,423.95. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.2 per cent to 23,775.35, while the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.2 per cent to 8,030.10. In Asian trading, South Korea’s Kospi edged up less than 0.1 per cent to 5,584.87, after a roller coaster week with a record 12 per cent loss on Wednesday followed by a nearly 10 per cent rebound on Thursday. The index had shot above 6,000 in recent weeks before the war began to rattle financial markets.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6 per cent to 55,620.84. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.7 per cent to 25,757.29, while the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.4 per cent to 4,124.19. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1 per cent to 8,851.00. Taiwan’s Taiex shed 0.2 per cent and India’s Sensex lost 0.8 per cent. Oil prices rose after dipping earlier after soaring earlier this week as production and supply worries over the war with Iran intensified.

Benchmark US crude surged 4.1 per cent to $84.36 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 1.7 per cent to $87 per barrel. It was trading near its highest level since April 2024. If oil prices spike further, perhaps to $100 per barrel, and remain at that level, some analysts and investors expect that would weigh on global economic growth. Uncertainty over what will happen with the war has caused frenetic swings across financial markets this week. Before oil prices started rising again, ING analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a note that Friday’s brief easing of crude prices followed a 30-day temporary waiver from the US for Indian refiners to buy Russian oil. It’s not a “game-changer,” they said, but reflects US efforts to cap oil prices.

Oil prices will hinge on a steady resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz following disruptions of tanker activities there, the ING analysts wrote. Roughly one fifth of the world’s seaborne oil is estimated to flow through the waterway located between Iran and Oman.