WTI tops $90 as U.S.-Iran strikes lift oil about 3%

$90.29 per barrel for U.S. crude is the market number that moved this story into Tier-1 territory. A fresh MarketWatch RSS item flagged the oil move, and AP market reporting put benchmark U.S. crude up $2.93 while Brent crude rose $2.52 to $93.64 after another U.S.-Iran exchange of strikes.

The catalyst is geopolitical and commodity-linked rather than a routine daily recap. AP reported that oil gained around 3% after the Pentagon said the United States bombed Iranian military sites in retaliation for Tehran shooting down an American drone. Negotiations were still continuing around the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway that sits at the center of global oil and natural-gas transit risk.

The price level matters because Brent was approximately $70 a barrel in late February before the war began, according to the same market report. A move back above $90 for U.S. crude keeps energy inflation in the data path that bond investors and central banks watch. It also changes the read-through for airlines, chemical producers, refiners, shale producers, and consumer discretionary companies with fuel-sensitive margins.

Equity futures were still positive in the same premarket window, with Dow futures up 0.5%, S&P 500 futures up 0.3%, and Nasdaq futures up 0.2%. That split matters: the immediate shock appeared concentrated in crude rather than a broad risk-off move. The next watch points are confirmed shipping flows through Hormuz, any U.S. or Iranian military statement changing the ceasefire path, and the Friday U.S. nonfarm payrolls print if energy prices begin to alter rate expectations.