Oil prices increase as 7 tankers reported damaged in Hormuz

World shares and U.S. futures retreated on Oct. 22 as oil prices jumped more than 2% following a report by Iran's state television that seven oil tankers caught fire and were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz. If the report is verified, it would be the largest number of vessels damaged in the waterway in a single day since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 3.2% to $112.27 per barrel. It has been bouncing between $97 and $112 in recent days on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal. U.S. benchmark crude rose 2.8% to $99.80 per barrel. In early European trading, Germany's DAX shed 1.1% to 25,367.96, while the CAC 40 in Paris declined 1.3% to 7,816.67. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.7% at 10,678.67. The future for the S&P 500 lost 1% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.7% lower. diesel prices nationally will not fall below $6/gal prior to the midterms, and gasoline will not fall below $4/gal prior to the midterms- both will remain elevated until there is a clear de-escalation btwn US/Iran and Ukraine/Russia — Patrick De Haan (@GasBuddyGuy) October 22, 2026 In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 2.7% to 62,907.84 on heavy selling of big tech companies like SoftBank Group, which lost 6.9%. Computer chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron fell 7% and testing equipment maker Advantest lost 6%. In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 3.5%, to 5,533.77. Big memory chipmakers led the…

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