Oil prices forged higher as concern over disruption to energy flows in the Middle East outweighed hopes that governments will agree to a record release of oil reserves.

Futures for Brent crude, the global benchmark, were on the rise again, climbing above $90 a barrel. U.S. officials said Iran has placed mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.K. said two cargo ships were hit by projectiles near the key waterway.

The IEA has proposed tapping 400 million barrels of oil, its largest-ever release, The Wall Street Journal reported, with a decision from member countries expected Wednesday.

Stock futures flitted between small gains and losses. Oracle stock rallied premarket after the company reported strong demand for cloud computing to train and run artificial intelligence.

U.S. equities have held up since the initial U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, with the Dow industrials down less than 3% as of Tuesday's close, with the S&P 500 down 1.4% and the Nasdaq composite little changed.

"There is this almost emotional expectation that this will end soon," said Chris Iggo, chief investment officer for core investments at AXA IM, part of BNP Paribas Asset Management.

If the U.S. can't engineer a speedy resolution to the energy crisis, markets will eventually price in an impact to corporate earnings as well as higher inflation, he said.

"The problem we've had in the past with prolonged oil shocks is that they do typically lead to a big growth slowdown," he said.

Investors are also awaiting U.S. inflation data for February, due out at 8:30 a.m. ET.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 11, 2026 07:06 ET (11:06 GMT)

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