{"id":66668,"date":"2026-08-17T14:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-braced-for-escalation-as-trump-asserts-control-over-strait-of-hormuz\/66668\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T14:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T18:38:11","slug":"global-markets-braced-for-escalation-as-trump-asserts-control-over-strait-of-hormuz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-braced-for-escalation-as-trump-asserts-control-over-strait-of-hormuz\/66668\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Markets Braced for Escalation as Trump Asserts Control Over Strait of Hormuz"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/energy\/crude-oil\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"12\" title=\"Crude oil\">Oil prices<\/a> surged as Brent crude rose 3% to $90.74<\/strong> and WTI climbed 2% to $84.14 following reports of potential U.S. military action against Oman and a tightened blockade on Iran.<\/li>\n<li><strong>President Trump reiterated claims of U.S. control over the Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, floating the controversial idea of declaring the strategic waterway as U.S. territory.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chinese President Xi Jinping is confirmed for a high-stakes U.S. visit on September 24<\/strong>, skipping the UN General Assembly to hold direct bilateral talks with Trump on trade and the Iran crisis.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Copper prices neared record highs on the LME<\/strong> due to an intensifying supply squeeze and anticipation of new U.S. tariffs, with spot prices trading $545 above futures.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A 60-day truce between Israel and Lebanon is nearing expiration<\/strong> this Monday, with regional tensions rising as Iran prepares for a broader confrontation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Geopolitical Tensions and the Energy Market<\/strong><br \/>\nOil markets reacted sharply today as President Trump intensified his rhetoric regarding the Middle East. <strong>Brent crude oil (<a href=\"\/stock\/BRENT\">BRENT<\/a>) jumped 3% to settle at $90.74 a barrel<\/strong>, while <strong>WTI (<a href=\"\/stock\/WTI\">WTI<\/a>) rose 2% to $84.14<\/strong>. The rally followed reports that Trump threatened military action against Oman if it interferes with the U.S. &quot;steel wall&quot; blockade of Iran, with the President stating that Oman hasn&#39;t &quot;behaved very well&quot; and could be &quot;handled very easily.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Navy continues to enforce a strict maritime blockade, with <strong>CENTCOM reporting that 64 commercial vessels have been redirected<\/strong> and several others boarded or disabled as of August 17. Despite the tension, some Gulf producers are successfully shuttling crude out of the Persian Gulf, which has prevented a total price breakout. However, the <strong>60-day truce in Lebanon is set to expire today<\/strong>, and Tehran is reportedly preparing for a wider conflict, keeping the risk premium high.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Trump\u2019s Foreign Policy and Diplomacy<\/strong><br \/>\nIn a series of rapid-fire statements, President Trump reiterated his stance that the <strong>U.S. effectively controls the Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, even repeating the &quot;idea&quot; of declaring the international waterway as U.S. territory. On the diplomatic front, Trump noted that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has &quot;responded&quot; to him, though he remains skeptical of Iran, stating they are not ready to make the &quot;necessary&quot; deal.<\/p>\n<p>The White House confirmed that <strong>Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the U.S. on September 24<\/strong> for a one-day summit. Xi is expected to skip the UN General Assembly entirely to focus on a dense agenda including <strong>trade, Taiwan, AI, and the Hormuz situation<\/strong>. This marks Xi\u2019s first state visit to the U.S. in 11 years, signaling a critical juncture for U.S.-China relations amidst global instability.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Commodities and Economic Indicators<\/strong><br \/>\nThe metals market is experiencing its own volatility, with <strong>Copper (<a href=\"\/stock\/COPPER\">COPPER<\/a>) climbing toward record levels on the London Metal Exchange (LME)<\/strong>. A massive supply squeeze has pushed the market into a &quot;backwardation&quot; of $545 a ton\u2014the widest since 2021\u2014as traders bet on incoming U.S. tariffs. While global inventories rose 1.4% today to end a 42-day decline, stocks remain heavily concentrated in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>Separately, the <strong>Federal Reserve issued a consumer alert<\/strong> regarding sophisticated phishing scams. The central bank warned that any unsolicited emails or texts claiming a bank account is compromised are likely fraudulent, emphasizing that the <strong>Federal Reserve does not contact consumers directly<\/strong>. This warning comes as financial markets face increased cyber risks alongside geopolitical uncertainty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Oil prices surged as Brent crude rose 3% to $90.74 and WTI climbed 2% to $84.14 following reports [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[665,2001,4461,4664,4810,4824,5220,5346],"class_list":["post-66668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-clf","tag-copper","tag-crude-oil","tag-iran","tag-trump-administration","tag-geopolitics","tag-lme","tag-uso"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}