(NEW YORK) — Oil prices climbed and stocks closed lower on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he believes an agreement with Iran is “over” amid an exchange of strikes in the Middle East.
Brent crude, the benchmark measure for worldwide oil trading, climbed more than 6% on Wednesday, pushing the price up to about $79 a barrel.
Oil prices stand above pre-war levels, though they have fallen from a high of as much as $118 reached earlier in the conflict.
Stock prices fell in response to the heightened tensions and rising oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 575 points, or 1%, while the S&P 500 declined 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.2%.
The war prompted the Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping route that facilitates about one-fifth of worldwide oil supply. In turn, the global economy suffered a historic oil shock, sending oil prices surging.
A U.S.-Iran agreement last month, however, included a provision allowing commercial shipping to resume through the strait, and to do so toll-free for 60 days. Over the ensuing weeks, oil prices prices fell below pre-war levels.
The tensions in recent days rekindled upward pressure on oil prices.
Trump said that negotiations between the U.S. and Iran will continue, but he told reporters of the agreement, “For me, I think it’s over.”
“It’s just a waste of time dealing with them,” Trump said of Iran at a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, where he is attending the NATO summit.
Iran’s military said it launched on Wednesday attacks targeting 85 U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain, saying they were retaliatory strikes following a wave of U.S. airstrikes on Iranian targets.
U.S. forces hit over 80 targets overnight in a new round of airstrikes that came as an “immediate response” to Iran’s attacks on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. Central Command.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
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