Oil prices rose and stocks slipped on growing signs that the Strait of Hormuz was likely to remain all but shut for the foreseeable future.
Alongside US and Iranian strikes against each other, Tehran fired warning shots on four ships that tried to cross the strait: Iran wants to exert oversight of the channel, a move opposed by global powers.
Washington imposed sanctions on the Iranian authority regulating the waterway, and US President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it worked with Tehran to share control of Hormuz.
The number of ships crossing has, predictably, dwindled even further; ABN AMRO economists forecast that even if the strait reopened soon, oil prices would likely remain high for “the coming quarters.”