Oil soars, stocks fall after Israeli attack

Investors worry that a broader Mideast conflict would disrupt the world's energy supplies

- KEITH BRADSHER

Israel’s military strikes against Iran shook global markets, as oil prices surged and stocks tumbled on worries that the attacks could set off a broader Mideast conflict that would disrupt the world’s energy supplies.

Prices of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, jumped nearly 9% to almost $78 a barrel in the hour following the Israeli strikes. As investors worried that rising oil prices might lead to more inflation and hurt the economies of oil-importing nations, stock markets fell broadly.

The Nikkei 225 Index in Japan fell 1.3% in early trading yesterday, while the Hang Seng Index dipped 0.7% in Hong Kong. Wall Street was closed at the time of the attack, but overnight futures market trading indicated that they could also fall as much as the Tokyo market.

Iran is among the world’s largest producers of oil, and it sells almost all of what it produces to China, which consumes 15% of the global supply. Sales by Iran’s state oil company to China represent about 6% of Iran’s entire economy, and are equal to about half of its entire government's spending.