US crude tops $110 per barrel and Wall Street tumbles after Trump vows to escalate attacks on Iran

Thursday is the last day of trading this week due to the Good Friday holiday. Markets have not posted a weekly gain since the war began in late February.

A spokesman for Iran’s military insisted Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms, munitions and production facilities.

“The centers you think you have targeted are insignificant, and our strategic military productions take place in locations of which you have no knowledge and will never reach,” Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari claimed.

Just before Trump began his address — in which he said U.S. “core strategic objectives are nearing completion” — explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage.

Trump did not mention a looming deadline he set for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway for global oil and gas transport, after he threatened Iran earlier with U.S. attacks on its energy infrastructure if the strait was not reopened. He did not offer a clear path to end the supply disruptions that have sent energy prices soaring.

Oil prices shot sharply higher following Trump’s remarks. The price U.S. crude on Thursday actually shot higher than the type of crude that has been bottled up by the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose $10.11 to $110.24 a barrel outpacing Brent, the international benchmark. Brent jumped more than 8% to $109.38.

“The market has shown disappointment because the speech President Trump made was far less than what the market expected,” said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex in Tokyo. “There were no concrete details about the end of the hostilities with Iran.”

“What the market wants is a clear outline for the ceasefire,” he said.

In overnight equities trading, General Motors slid more than 2% after the automaker reported a nearly 10% decline in first quarter sales. That dragged most automakers lower early Thursday as several others prepare to post their latest results.

At midday in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.6%, France's CAC 40 fell 1.3%, and Germany's DAX lost 2.4%.

Asian shares closed lower. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 2.4% to 52,463.27 on Thursday. South Korea’s Kospi lost 4.5% to 5,234.05, also after government data showed consumer prices in March rose 2.2% from a year earlier on soaring fuel costs.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7% to 25,116.53, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.7% to 3,919.29.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.1%, while Taiwan’s Taiex traded 1.8% lower.

Gold and silver prices fell. Gold was down 3.9% to $4,627 per ounce, while silver lost 6.9% to $70.85.

Associated Press journalists Matthew Daly, Kim Tong-hyung and Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.