Oil Gains as Mideast Tensions Amplify Supply-Disruption Concerns

By Ronnie Harui

Oil prices advanced in Asia Thursday morning as tensions in the Middle East amplified concerns over supply disruptions in the region.

Houthi militants escalated their conflict with Saudi Arabia, attacking two airports in the kingdom. The assault on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed a Sudanese national and wounded eight other people. A separate attack on the airport in the southern city of Abha, about 400 miles from the Yemeni border, killed two people and wounded 28 others, Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said.

The two attacks, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, have deepened the Saudi-Houthi conflict that threatens to further disrupt oil supplies through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital chokepoint in the global energy network.

"Attacks on vessels in the Middle East continued," ANZ Research analysts said in a research report. "The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations has reported at least nine attacks in the" Strait of Hormuz so far this month, the analysts noted, adding this amount was already half the number recorded for the entire month of September.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 1.3% to $89.40 a barrel, and front-month Brent crude oil futures gained 1.4% to $101.56 a barrel, according to ICE data.

Equity markets across Asia fell in the wake of Wednesday's declines in European and U.S. stock markets. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was recently down 0.9%, South Korea's Kospi was off 0.4%, and Singapore's FTSE Straits Times Index was 2.0% lower.

"The main theme was a modest risk-off tone," Commerzbank Research analysts said in a report. "Lingering fears over a fiscal crisis in France was the dominant driver behind the sell-off in Europe," the analysts added.

The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasurys remained near multidecade high in Asia on Thursday as investors parsed minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's September meeting where the Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy.

"The September FOMC minutes offered few surprises," strategists at OCBC Group Research said. "Policymakers reiterated that the 25bp rate hike was intended to support a faster return of inflation to the Fed's 2% target, while most participants judged that another rate increase would likely be appropriate before year-end," the strategists added.

The 10-year Treasury yield was recently up 2 basis points to 5.299% after touching a 24-year high of 5.361% overnight. However, yields on Australia's 10-year government bonds fell 2 basis points to 5.380% and on New Zealand's 10-year sovereign debt shed 1 basis point to 5.103%, FactSet data showed.

The yield on Japan's 10-year government bonds was 2 basis points lower at 3.085%, according to data provider Quick. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 07, 2026 22:01 ET (02:01 GMT)