Markets reassess post-truce optimism

The fading prospect of a durable US-Iran ceasefire is forcing investors and energy companies to reassess their post-truce optimism and brace for prolonged instability in the Middle East.

Qatar is delaying plans to ramp up LNG production after attacks on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz renewed fears of shipping through the waterway. Energy analysts warned that the US’ strained oil stockpiles “are far from prepared” for the ceasefire to collapse, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“The peace-trade rally that drove global markets to a series of record highs is looking fragile at this moment,” The New York Times wrote: Investors, who were too quick to assume the conflict was contained, are being forced to “once again adjust to geopolitical risks.”