Oil price up as Trump says talks a ‘waste of time’ – Daily Business

Oil prices resumed their upward surge after Donald Trump ordered fresh overnight missile strikes on Iran.

Brent crude was trading as much as 7% higher at $78.89 and government borrowing costs rose sharply after the President dismissed the recently signed memorandum of understanding as a “waste of time.”

The ceasefire had seen the price of oil fall back and helped encourage expectations of a return to stability of supplies.

That changed after Iran attacked three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, prompting retaliatory attacks by the United States.

Speaking at the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkiye, the president said of the Iranian regime: “It’s just a waste of time dealing with them, they’re liars.

“I don’t want to deal with them any more, they’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people. And they’re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”

On the prospect for the negotiations, he said: “They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time.”

The yield on the benchmark ten-year UK government bond increased 0.11 percentage points to 4.97%. The pound fell 0.14% against the dollar to $1.33 before stabilising and rose 0.15% against the euro to €1.17. 

European stock markets fell. The FTSE 100 index was 1.7% lower and the mid-cap FTSE 250 index dipped by 1.5%. Germany’s Dax index fell 2.23% and France’s Cac 40 lost 2.18%.

All three of Wall Street’s main stock indices opened sharply lower but by the close of the mid-week session in New York, the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed marginally higher with a gain of 0.2% while the S&P 500 shed 0.7%. The Dow Jones industrial average was 1.1% lower.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Belll, said: “The news has caught the market off guard, leading to share prices flashing red and oil price hikes restoking the inflation debate.

“Interest rate expectations quickly shifted, with markets now thinking the Fed could raise rates in September or October rather than the earlier suggestion of December.

“This renewed backdrop of uncertainty adds to existing market jitters around excessive spending and valuations in the AI space. It also didn’t help that the IMF downgraded its global growth forecast and raised its inflation forecast for 2026. The combination of these events resulted in a miserable session for investors.

“The FTSE 100 didn’t fare as badly as its European peers thanks to support from BP and Shell which benefit from the higher oil price. The only other bright spots on the UK markets were insurers, utilities and grocers.”

British Airways’ parent company International Consolidated Airlines was a faler on the prospect of fuel costs going back up and more travel disruption.

“The aviation industry had just started to breathe a sigh of relief, with oil prices coming down and the war reaching a conclusion,” said Mr Coatsworth. “Until today it looked as if summer had been saved for airlines, and that might still be the case. But the clouds are gathering for autumn and beyond if oil doesn’t come back down.”