World Shares Mixed As Oil Prices Climb On Israel-Iran Conflicts

Washington: World shares were mixed Wednesday while oil prices jumped more than 1 per cent after a report by CNN said Israel may be planning an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. A CNN report cited unnamed intelligence officials saying Israel may be preparing for an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Oil prices tend to rise with conflicts that might disrupt oil supplies, and they jumped early Wednesday but lost some of those gains by midday.

US benchmark crude oil gained 93 cents to $62.96 per barrel while Brent crude, the international standard, rose 90 cents to $66.27 per barrel. In talks on the nuclear issue, Iranian officials have warned they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran's programme if a deal isn't reached.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX fell 0.3 per cent to 23,967.81, while the CAC 40 in Paris declined 0.7 per cent to 7,891.05. Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed, at 8,780.46. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.6 per cent. In Asia, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.6 per cent to 37,298.98. Gains have been limited by the continued worries over higher tariffs Trump has imposed on many US trading partners since taking office.

Earlier this week, Japanese officials said they were insisting all of his higher tariffs on imports from Japan be removed as part of talks with Washington. Japan's exports have slowed due to the tariffs, the government reported Wednesday. Exports to the US, Japan's largest single trading partner, fell almost 2 per cent year-on-year in April and the annual rate of growth in its global exports slowed to 2 per cent from 4 per cent in March, preliminary customs data showed.