WASHINGTON — Crude oil prices spiked by over 2 percent on Monday, August 31, 2026, after the United States launched military strikes against Iranian rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz, triggering retaliatory attacks by Tehran against US military targets in Jordan.
Okay News reports that the United States attacked Iranian rocket launchers located on a small island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, August 30, 2026, marking the first US strikes inside Iran in a month.
Tehran retaliated by striking US military positions in Jordan. The renewed exchange of fire occurred as the war between the United States and Iran entered its sixth month, raising fresh supply concerns over the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime passage that handles 20 percent of global crude oil and gas traffic.
In market trading on Monday, August 31, 2026, West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.5 percent to $85.51 per barrel, while Brent crude gained 2.8 percent to reach $90.53 per barrel.
Concurrently, financial markets responded to remarks delivered by Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming. Warsh stated that US inflation stands at 3.7 percent, nearly double the central bank’s 2 percent target, and noted that current financial conditions are not clearly restrictive.
Following the remarks, global stock markets showed mixed performance. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat at 53,559.99 points on Friday, August 28, 2026, while Asian benchmarks posted diverging results on Monday, August 31, 2026, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 declining 0.1 percent to 66,311.93 points and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropping 0.2 percent to 25,530.19 points. Shanghai’s Composite Index gained 0.9 percent to close at 3,986.30 points.
In foreign exchange markets, the US dollar fell to 159.87 Japanese yen from 160.07 yen, while the euro dipped to $1.1586. The British pound rose to $1.3538.
