Oil prices rose on Monday after further military exchanges between the United States and Iran increased attention on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, while investors looked ahead to U.S. inflation data later this week.
U.S. stock markets were due to remain closed for a holiday, leaving investors focused on geopolitical developments and upcoming economic data that could influence expectations for Federal Reserve interest rates.
Brent futures were up 1.1% at $97.31 a barrel as of 03:02 ET (07:02 GMT), after gaining nearly 10% during the previous week.
Iranian authorities have indicated plans to establish a restricted zone near the Strait of Hormuz “in the coming days.” The announcement followed U.S. strikes that disabled three Iranian oil tankers over the weekend.
Washington said the action was taken in response to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ballistic missile attack targeting two U.S. Navy warships in the region.
Shipping activity through Hormuz has fallen to its lowest level since May, according to shipping data cited in media reports. Two vessels transited the waterway on Saturday and six on Sunday, while the 10-day moving average declined to 10.
Before the Iran conflict began in late February, approximately 125 large commodity vessels passed through the strait each day, representing about one-fifth of global tanker traffic.
U.S. economic pressure on Iran remains in focus
Disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has increased concerns about energy supplies and the potential implications of higher oil prices for inflation and interest rates.
The six-month conflict remains at a stalemate. Analysts at Vital Knowledge said the U.S. appeared either “incapable” or “unwilling” to conclude the fighting, while Tehran was “digging its heels.”
The analysts said Washington appeared to be “winning the war of Hormuz.”
Reuters reported that a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and tighter sanctions were limiting Iran’s oil exports and access to foreign currency, citing Iranian insiders and regional sources.
It remains uncertain whether the economic pressure will lead Iran to return to negotiations. Vital Knowledge said the U.S. approach could result in a “Pyrrhic victory as Tehran’s economic desperation prompts it to escalate the conflict even further.”
Trump envoys visit Kyiv and Moscow
In Ukraine, two envoys of U.S. President Donald Trump visited Kyiv on Sunday as part of efforts to resume discussions over the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also visited Moscow over the weekend, where they discussed proposals for ending the conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a White House official cited by the Wall Street Journal.
The official said further details would be released in “the coming weeks.”
Ukraine and Russia both refrained from recent bombing campaigns while the diplomats travelled to the two countries, according to the source.
Nvidia CEO says “AGI has arrived”
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) Chief Executive Jensen Huang said artificial general intelligence had arrived, citing OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra model.
“AGI has arrived,” Huang said in a post on X on Sunday while congratulating OpenAI on the launch.
OpenAI has described Astra as its most intelligent and aligned system, with performance across areas including computer use, software engineering, cybersecurity, science and professional work.
Huang said Astra was trained using more than 100,000 Nvidia Grace Blackwell NVLink72 systems.
“From ChatGPT to o1 to Astra in 4 years,” Huang wrote, adding that another 400,000 Nvidia GPUs were coming online.
Amazon cargo aircraft crashes in Miami
At least five people were reported killed and five injured after an Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Prime Air cargo aircraft operated by 21 Air overran a runway and crashed at Miami International Airport on Sunday.
Prime Air Flight 7598 overran the airport’s diagonal runway at approximately 2 p.m. local time and came to rest at the northwest end of the airport, according to a spokesperson cited by Investing.com. The aircraft struck multiple vehicles and caught fire.
The cause of the runway overrun was not immediately known. The Federal Aviation Administration is expected to investigate the circumstances of the accident.
The incident follows a February 2019 accident involving an Amazon-branded Boeing 767 operated by Atlas Air near Houston, which killed all three people aboard. The 2019 accident involved a different aircraft and operator.