Oil Prices Mixed as Traders Look to Middle East — Update

By Ronnie Harui

Oil prices were mixed Thursday as markets watched the latest flare-up in Middle East tensions, while government bonds retreated on disappointment over the U.S. Treasury Department's latest debt buyback plan.

American forces destroyed 10 Iranian tankers over the past week, the U.S. Central Command said on social media platform X. These vessels were part of a multibillion-dollar shadow network that finances the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Central Command added.

On Wednesday, U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO, which is affiliated with the Royal Navy, said it had received reports of several merchant ships struck in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of ​Oman, which are located on either side of the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran has said it would act against threats and has announced plans for a new "exclusion zone" around the approaches to [the Strait of] Hormuz, where Iran would seek to restrict shipping.

"This battle will continue," Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Wednesday. The strait is a key waterway through which one-fifth of the world's oil is transported.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were little changed at $96.04 per barrel, erasing an earlier gain of as much as 1.8%, according to ICE data. Front-month Brent crude oil futures were 0.2% lower at $100.99, reversing a gain of as large as 0.7%.

Bond markets in the Asia-Pacific were weighed by disappointment over the U.S. Treasury Department's announcement that it would repurchase up to $6 billion of longer-term debt at a buyback operation on Thursday.

"Higher oil prices and disappointment around the buyback announcement pushed bond yields higher," said Sally Auld, group chief economist at National Australia Bank. "The scale of the expanded operation appeared to disappoint the market," Auld added.

Japan's 10-year government bond yield rose 4 basis points to 2.920%, Australia's 10-year yield added 6 basis points to 5.2680%, and New Zealand's 10-year government bond yield gained 8 basis points to 4.8790%. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

In foreign exchange markets, the dollar was fairly subdued against other currencies as traders looked to upcoming U.S. inflation data for clues about what the Federal Reserve will do at its policy meeting next week.

A survey of economists by The Wall Street Journal tips the on-month rise in August's consumer price index will accelerate to 0.4% from 0.1%, with core CPI unchanged at 0.2%.

"The stage is set for a potential catalyst, particularly if inflation data surprises to the upside," StoneX's senior market analyst Matt Simpson said in a commentary.

"With the U.S. Dollar Index having already fallen sharply, even a modest upside surprise in PPI [producer price index] or CPI could provide the excuse for a near-term rebound in" the index, Simpson added.

U.S. PPI and CPI reports are due Thursday and Friday, respectively.

The dollar was little changed at 153.48 yen, while the U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.1% at 98.750.

Equity markets in Asia were a little lower in the wake of losses on Wall Street overnight. South Korea's Kospi was recently down 0.1%, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.4%, and Singapore's FTSE Straits Times Index lost 0.6%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 1.3%, China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.3%, and Taiwan's Taiex was down 0.5%.

Write to Ronnie Harui at ronnie.harui@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 10, 2026 01:44 ET (05:44 GMT)