Oil prices surge and stocks tumble after Israel attacks Iran

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last up 6.3% at $71 a barrel. US oil jumped 8.5% to nearly $74 a barrel, after gaining as much as 13% earlier in the day. Those are the biggest intraday gains for each benchmark since March 2022, a month after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The surge illustrates “both immediate supply concerns and a growing sense that negative headlines could extend the timeline for escalation unlike prior Israel-Iran episode,” Ahmad Assiri, research strategist at Pepperstone, a financial services firm, wrote in a research note.