World shares are mixed as investors watch for release of oil reserves

Early Wednesday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, was up 2% at $89.52. U.S. benchmark crude oil was up 2.5% at $85.55 per barrel.

Crude prices had traded higher, but moderated after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters her government would release emergency oil reserves as soon as Monday.

The future for the S&P 500 was 0.2% higher and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1%.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX slipped 1.5% to 23,613.47, while the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.9% to 7,986.41. Britain's FTSE 100 also shed 0.9%, to 10,285.50.

Markets were mixed in Asia, where Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 1.4% to 55,025.37.

South Korea's Kospi picked up 1.4% to 5,609.95 after gaining more than 3% earlier in the day.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell back, slipping 0.2% to 25,898.76, while the Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.3% to 4,133.43.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to $8,743.50.

Taiwan's benchmark climbed 4.1% and the Sensex in India fell 1.8%. In Thailand, where worries over oil and gas supplies have prompted the government to order energy-saving measures, Bangkok's SET gained 0.1%.

Oil prices plunged Monday after hitting their most expensive level since 2022 as President Donald Trump raised hopes that the war may end soon when he told CBS News that he thought “the war is very complete, pretty much.”

Both sides have since sharpened their rhetoric.

The U.S. said it took out more than a dozen minelaying Iranian vessels Tuesday, and the Islamic Republic vowed to block the region’s oil exports, saying it would not allow “even a single liter” to be shipped to its enemies.

“With Iran continuing to threaten vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the focus will be on how the U.S. and other major economies will ensure the flowing of crude oil via this narrow passage and alternative routes to help stabilize prices,” Fawad Razaqzada of Forex.com wrote in a market report.

The International Energy Agency is considering a major release of emergency oil reserves but that will only buy time, he said. “The real issue is the disruption to supply flows, and the longer that continues unresolved, the higher oil prices are likely to go if the Iran war continues.”

Trump has remained clear about his desire to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. The war has effectively blocked the waterway off Iran’s coast, where a fifth of the world’s oil sails on a typical day.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2%, a day after its latest wild swings caused by extreme moves in the oil market. The Dow fell 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite edged less than 0.1% higher.

Oracle's shares on the Nasdaq surged 11% in premarket trading early Wednesday after the company reported its earnings and revenue jumped 20% in the last quarter, much better than analysts had forecast.

Stock markets have a history of bouncing back relatively quickly from military conflicts, as long as oil prices don’t stay too high for too long. Uncertainty about whether that may happen this time around has led to stunning swings up and down for markets worldwide, often hour-to-hour.

If oil prices do stay high for long, household budgets already stretched by high inflation could snap under the pressure. Companies would see their own bills jump for fuel and to stock items on their store shelves or in their data warehouses. It all raises the possibility of a worst-case scenario for the global economy, “stagflation,” where growth stagnates and inflation remains high.

In other dealings early Wednesday, the dollar rose to 158.41 Japanese yen from 158.05 yen. The euro fell to $1.1605 from $1.1610.