Wall Street dips, oil prices rise on reports of strike on US Navy vessel near Iran

The US remains active near the Persian Gulf and President Donald Trump said the US would guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz

Wall Street dipped and oil prices jumped early on Monday on conflicting reports of a strike by Iran on a US Navy vessel outside the Strait of Hormuz.

Futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.2 per cent before the opening bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5 per cent. Nasdaq futures dipped 0.1 per cent.

Oil prices initially jumped 5 per cent on the news that a US ship had been hit, but is now trading between 2 per cent and 3 per cent higher after the US military denied the attack.

The US remains active near the Persian Gulf and President Donald Trump said the US would guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz, but offered few details.

Iranian news agencies – including the semi-official agency Fars and the Iranian Labour News Agency – claimed that Iran had struck a US Navy vessel southeast of the Strait of Hormuz, accusing it of “violating maritime security and navigation norms”.

The price of a barrel of US benchmark crude was up US$2.18 at US$104.12 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped US$3.06 to US$111.23 a barrel.