Oil rises, US futures dip as Israel urges Tehran evacuation

Oil prices resumed their upward climb and US futures were lower early Tuesday after Israels military issued an evacuation warning to 330000 people in Irans capital Tehran Asian shares were mixedThe evacuation warning was for a part of Tehran a city of 95 million that houses the countrys state TV and police headquarters and three large hospitals including one owned by Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard US President Donald Trump announced he was returning from the G7 summit in Canada a day early due to the intensifying conflictThe futures for the SampP 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 03 per centIn Asia Tokyos Nikkei 225 index climbed 06 per cent to 3854756 as the Japanese central bank opted to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 05 per centThe Bank of Japan has been gradually raising its rate from near zero and cutting back on its purchases of Japanese government bonds and other assets to help counter inflation It said economic growth was likely to moderate and there was some weakness in consumer sentiment housing investmentIn particular it is extremely uncertain how trade and policies in each jurisdiction will evolve and how overseas activity and prices will react to them the BOJs statement saidChinese shares edged lower In Hong Kong the Hang Seng slipped 01 per cent to 2403856 The Shanghai Composite index declined 02 per cent to 338214In South Korea the Kospi gained 04 per cent to 295688Australias SampPASX 500 gave up 0137 to 854360 Taiwans Taiex gained 06 per cent and in Bangkok the SET was little changedAs Israel and Iran attack each other the fear remains that a wider war could constrict the flow of Irans oil to its customers That in turn could raise gasoline prices worldwide and keep them high though spikes in prices from previous conflicts have been briefCrude jumped 7 per cent late last week after Israels attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets Early Tuesday US benchmark crude oil gained 31 cents to 7208 dollars per barrel while Brent crude the international standard was up 33 cents at 7356 dollars per barrelOn Monday the mood was calm on Wall Street as the SampP 500 climbed 09 per cent to reclaim most of its drop from Friday It closed at 603311 The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 08 per cent to 4251509 and the Nasdaq composite gained 15 per cent to 1970121US Steel rose 5137 after Trump signed an executive order on Friday paving the way for an investment in the company by Japans Nippon Steel Trump would have a unique influence over the operations of US Steel under the terms of the dealThey helped offset drops for defence contractors which gave back some of their jumps from Friday Lockheed Martin fell 4 per cent and Northrop Grumman sank 3 per centThe price of gold receded after jumping on Friday when investors were looking for someplace safe to park their cash An ounce of gold fell 1460 dollars to 340240 dollars per ounceInvestors have other concerns key among them Donald Trumps tariffs which still threaten to slow the US economy and raise inflation if Washington doesnt win trade deals with other countriesThe spectre of tariffs was looming over the meeting of the Group of Seven meeting of major economies in CanadaLater this week the Federal Reserve is set to discuss whether to lower or raise interest rates with the decision due on Wednesday The nearly unanimous expectation among traders and economists is that the Fed will stand patThe Federal Reserve has hesitated to lower interest rates after one cut late last year It is waiting to see how much Trumps tariffs will hurt the economy and raise inflation which has remained tame recently and is near the Feds 2 per cent targetMore important for financial markets on Wednesday will likely be forecasts for where Fed officials see the economy and interest rates heading in upcoming yearsIn other dealings early Tuesday the US dollar fell to 14459 Japanese yen from 14475 yen The euro rose to 11564 dollars from 11562 dollarsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever