World shares retreat and oil prices trade above $100 a barrel

10/09/2026

A worker passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. stock price at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea on Sept 10. (AP)

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BANGKOK, Sept 10, (AP): Shares in Europe and Asia were mostly lower Thursday following a retreat on Wall Street as the price of crude oil again traded above $100 a barrel. The future for the S&P 500 rose 0.2% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4%. In Germany, the DAX fell 0.2% to 25,535.88. The CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.2% higher, while Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.2% to 10,651.40.

The price of Brent crude jumped 3.4% on Wednesday, surging above $100 a barrel for the first time since July. It added another 0.3% early Thursday, to $101.52 a barrel. US benchmark crude gained 0.4% to $96.42 a barrel. The latest attacks between the US and Iran are stifling the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, and US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that oil prices likely won’t fall until after US midterm elections.

In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 reversed earlier losses, gaining 0.2% to 65,270.95 and the Kospi in South Korea fell 0.3% to 7,033.92. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.3% to 24,954.47, while the Shanghai Composite index gave up 0.4% to 3,934.40. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.2% to 8,819.40. Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.5% and India's Sensex was nearly unchanged. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 index fell 0.5%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite gave up 0.6%. The indexes are all on track for a weekly loss. Oil prices drove much of the action on Wall Street. The US destroyed five Iranian tankers on Tuesday in a series of attacks between the two nations. The conflict that began in February has essentially shut down traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil supply passed before the war began.

Retailers were among the companies that pulled the market lower. Amazon fell 1.8%, Starbucks lost 1.9% and Home Depot dropped 1%. Every sector within the benchmark S&P 500 declined except for energy, which rose as oil companies notched gains. Exxon Mobil rose 2.2% and Chevron added 1.9%.

The jump in oil prices over the course of the war has pushed prices for many goods higher. Gasoline prices in the U.S. are up about 32% from a year ago to $4.22 per gallon. Higher fuel costs cut into household budgets directly and also indirectly raise prices for goods because of higher shipping costs.