Oil tops $100, stocks slide as Middle East tensions escalate
Oil tops $100, stocks slide as Middle East tensions escalate. Brent crude tops $100 as Middle East conflict fuels inflation fears and rattles global stocks.
What happened
Image source, Getty ImagesByTheo Leggett, Business correspondent and Francisco Velasquez, Business reporterPublished10 September 2026The price of oil has jumped to $105 a barrel amid signs the conflict in the Middle East will not be resolved quickly, fuelling fears that inflation could accelerate. Ongoing attacks in the widening Middle East war could send energy prices even higher after a week that saw the cost of Brent crude surge back above $100 a barrel. The 1,200-km East-West pipeline running across the Arabian Peninsula has served as the main route out for global supplies of Middle East oil for the past six months while the Strait of Hormuz has been largely shut by war.
UN concerned about Strait of Hormuz as tensions escalate between US and Iran SAUDI LEADER ASKS FOR US MILITARY HELP Oil prices shot up over the past week, and the retail price of diesel in the United States surged past a record $6 a gallon as the United States and Iran both fired on tankers, and the Houthis in Yemen rapidly advanced along the Red Sea, potentially giving Tehran leverage over both of the region’s main oil-shipping corridors.
Skip to content Menu Home | Xi Jinping urges BRICS for peace role in the Middle East conflict Chinese President Xi Jinping Image Credits : Reuters Reuters 12 September 2026, 19:58 [SAST] Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the BRICS bloc to be a peacemaker in the Middle East conflict, in an address to a summit of member countries in New Delhi on Saturday. 1@LCO27GFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTAmerican Global Hawk (R) drone, which was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Strait of Hormuz in June 2019, and American Reaper MQ-1 drone, are pictured at Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) National Aerospace Park in western Tehran, October 11, 2023.
Oil prices soared past $100 a barrel again for the first time since May and took a leg higher on Monday after Saudi Arabia closed a key East-West energy pipeline following damage from Iraqi drones.
The wider picture
UKMTO’s report came the day after Saudi Arabia said it had temporarily closed its East-West pipeline as a precaution after a drone attack that both Baghdad and Riyadh said had originated in Iraq, where Iranian-backed militias operate. Four Yemeni government sources told Reuters that the Houthis had seized the strategic island of Perim on Friday in the middle of the Bab el-Mandeb strait — the “Gate of Tears” at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. The Houthis have been attacking Saudi ships in the area since declaring a blockade in July and targeting its other oil facilities.
BRICS SUMMIT | BRICS leaders meeting in New Delhi have adopted a joint declaration calling for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve conflicts and reduce global tensions. With the conflict between the US and Iran in the Gulf intensifying in recent days, the cost of both crude oil and gas has been rising sharply. Brent crude went back above $100 a barrel on Wednesday and has continued to climb. The war has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, preventing supplies of oil and gas from the Gulf from reaching global markets.
US and UK long-term borrowing costs also surged to their highest level in decades. Speaking at a Republican Party convention in Texas on Wednesday, President Trump said he did not think the fighting would end until after the US mid-term elections in November.
What has been reported
Analysts said the combination of rising energy costs and higher borrowing costs was adding pressure on financial markets. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at trading platform IG, said investors were becoming increasingly concerned about the economic impact of higher oil prices. "It feels like investors worldwide are now waking up to the crisis in oil markets," Beauchamp said. He warned that the surge in energy prices could weigh heavily on the global economy if it continues.
Concerns have also grown after Iran-aligned Houthi forces were reported to have seized Yemen's port of Mokha, a key Red Sea port. The move could elevate fears of further shipping disruptions. The price of natural gas has also been soaring on wholesale markets. In the UK, it rose above 200p a therm for the first time since the end of 2022.
What happens next
Storage levels in Europe are much lower than normal for the time of year, and the need to fill reserves ahead of the winter has helped to push up prices. UK consumers are protected from short term spikes on the wholesale gas markets by Ofgem's price cap. But if prices remain high for an extended period, households still face steeper bills. 6% at the start of October, with the next change after that coming in January.
The increase in energy costs has in turn raised fears of a spike in inflation, and this has also pushed up yields on government bonds around the world. In the UK, yields on 10-year bonds were at their highest since 2007 today, while those on 20- and 30-year bonds were at levels not seen since 1998. This implies a higher cost of borrowing for the government, at a time when public finances are under pressure.
The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across bbc.co.uk, cnbc.com, sabcnews.com. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.