Oil drops, stocks hit records on hopes of Hormuz opening

Oil drops, stocks hit records on hopes of Hormuz opening Oil prices fell to a three-week low after the US said a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping could be reached "today or tomorrow". NEW YORK: Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday (Aug 4) after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal could be reached imminently with Tehran on re-opening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic. The renewed optimism after five months of blockage for Gulf oil and gas tankers bolstered stocks, with two of the three major Wall Street indices powering to fresh records. In Europe, the benchmark indexes in Paris and Milan closed at all-time highs, while both Frankfurt and Madrid extended records reached on Monday. The gains came after last week's tech-led rollercoaster ride, spurred by renewed worries about massive AI spending and how quickly those investments will start generating wider economic payoffs. A series of forecast-busting US corporate earnings - most recently by AI-data mining giant Palantir as well as construction behemoth Caterpillar - was also bolstering confidence that firms would weather the volatility sparked by the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Today's session "is a great example on how the markets move when somebody in this administration says something about the Strait of Hormuz," said Art Hogan from B. Riley Wealth Management, who also pointed to a "spectacular" earnings season as supportive of the rally. Yet investors remained wary about the prospects for opening the Strait of Hormuz, having already seen earlier announcements of an imminent deal to end the US-Iran war going nowhere. Underlining the fragility of the situation, one crew member was listed missing Tuesday on a merchant ship hit by a projectile in Hormuz, with fire erupting in the accommodation area. Bessent told CNBC television that "I think there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait" - a key sticking point in ceasefire talks with Iran. "I'd expect the energy prices to settle back down, which, as I said, will be good for the entire world," he said. "The market is now trying to price a more nuanced geopolitical path: lower risk of immediate military escalation, but no guarantee yet that the Strait of Hormuz returns to normal functioning," said Patrick Munnelly, market strategist at Tickmill Group. The disruptions to global energy supplies has sent oil prices soaring - a boon for oil majors such as BP, whose profit more than doubled in the second quarter. Its shares fell nearly five per cent in London, however, as traders said the strong growth had been widely expected. Also on Tuesday, oil titan Saudi Aramco reported a 44 per cent surge in net profits. The five biggest Western energy majors - BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies - have reported combined net profits of almost US$47 billion for the April-June period. Away from the energy markets, Lufthansa's share price slumped eight per cent after the German airline said volatile jet fuel costs would impact full-year profit.