Oil rebounds after the U.S. strike on Iran's Qeshm island and no peace deal in sight, Reuters reports

Oil prices rebounded on Tuesday after a sharp fall in the previous session, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran and Washington remained far from reaching a deal to end the war and the United States attacked the Iranian island of Qeshm, according to Reuters.

Brent crude futures rose $1.36, or 1.3%, to $106.13 a barrel at 10:43 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.45, or 1.5%, to $97.91 a barrel.

Both benchmarks had fallen more than 7% on Monday, when talks between Iranian and Qatari officials raised hopes of an end to the war by the United States and Israel against Iran. Brent ended October at its highest level in six months, amid fears that the conflict could flare up again after the U.S. midterm elections.

A U.S. official said on Monday that the United States had attacked the Iranian island of Qeshm, in the Strait of Hormuz. Some officials described the strikes as defensive and aimed at preventing Iran from attacking commercial vessels in the strait, while the Iranian state agency IRNA reported several explosions on the island early on Monday.

Separately, the spokesperson for Qatar's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the United States and Iran remain committed to mediation efforts and are reviewing proposals aimed at bridging their differences.

The tension also weighed on European markets: the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell more than 0.5% to 645.8 points in the morning, with technology stocks leading the declines, amid concerns about the outlook for the artificial intelligence sector and the escalation in the Middle East, according to Reuters.

Photo: Archivo A Lo Claro

Source: Reuters