Brent crude oil has fallen below $100 a barrel on Thursday morning as reports from the Middle East indicate that the US and Iran are nearing a deal for the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

At the time of writing, the front month contract on Brent crude is trading at around $99.7 per barrel while the US benchmark WTI is at $93.6.

The crucial waterway’s effective closure during the conflict has severely disrupted global oil flows, fuelling inflation and driving energy prices higher worldwide.

On Wednesday, oil prices had already fallen nearly 8% while global equities rallied after US President Donald Trump signalled that a breakthrough with Iran was close, raising hopes the blockade could soon ease.

Still, optimism remained cautious as tensions persisted, underscored by a US military strike on an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as Washington increased pressure on Tehran to reach an agreement.

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Stock markets keep rising

Asian shares surged on Thursday, led by a 5.7% jump in Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 to a record intraday high, as investors awaited signs of a possible US-Iran agreement that could allow oil tankers to resume moving crude through the Persian Gulf.

The move extends a powerful rally that has seen the index climb about 18% over the past three months and nearly 73% over the past year, driven largely by strong demand for technology stocks linked to the AI boom.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.3% to 26,559.86, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.9% to 8,870.70, and Taiwan’s TAIEX gained 2.1%. South Korea’s KOSPI, however, slipped 0.4% to 7,353.08 as investors locked in profits after the benchmark’s near-7% surge a day earlier, which pushed it above 7,000 for the first time.

As for European markets, equities opened higher but are mostly trading flat.

The Euro Stoxx 50 and the broader pan-European Stoxx 600 are both trading within a 0.2% range.

The UK’s FTSE 100 is down over 0.5% while Germany’s DAX 30, France’s CAC 40 and Italy’s FTSE MIB are all trading in a 0.2% range.

On Wall Street, US futures are all trading between 0.2% and 0.3% higher with the small-cap Russell 2000 index leading.

On Wednesday, US stocks remained resilient despite the conflict, supported by a strong start to the 2026 earnings season. The S&P 500 rose 1.5% to a record high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2%.

Among standout performers, AMD jumped 18.6% after beating profit and revenue forecasts, while Super Micro Computer soared 24.5% on stronger-than-expected results. NVIDIA — widely seen as the face of the AI boom — rose 5.7%, making the biggest single contribution to the S&P 500’s advance because of its outsized market value.