LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Oil prices surged Tuesday as Iran launched fresh attacks on crude-producing neighbours, while several countries pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s demand to help secure the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Prices rebounded from the previous day’s sharp losses, which came after the head of the International Energy Agency said more stockpiles could be tapped if needed.

Equity markets mostly gained as tech firms rallied after US chip titan Nvidia said it expected to make at least $1 trillion in revenue through the end of 2027, taking some attention away from conflict in the Middle East.

Major European indices all advanced towards midday.

In Asia, Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei closed higher, though Tokyo and Shanghai dipped.

Investors are also awaiting a slew of central bank decisions this week, with expectations that interest rates will remain unchanged as elevated energy prices threaten to drive up inflation, even if the labour market appears to be softening in the United States.

The caution ahead of the key bank meetings left currency markets in a holding pattern, with the dollar little changed against most of its peers.

Australia’s central bank hiked its key interest rate Tuesday, pointing to “sharply higher fuel prices”.

International benchmark Brent North Sea crude and the main US oil contract West Texas Intermediate were both up around three percent.

“The longer the oil price stays above $100 per barrel, the louder the alarm bells for the market over inflation risks,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

A new drone strike on Tuesday hit the Fujairah oil complex, which sits on the Gulf of Oman and enables the UAE to bypass the Strait of Hormuz for some exports.

Two drones targeted a major southern Iraqi oil field, an oil ministry spokesperson told AFP, after the second attack in four days.

Meanwhile, Israel said it had killed Iran’s national security chief as it launched a “wide-scale wave of strikes” in Tehran, alongside attacks on Hezbollah in Beirut.

“The next stage of the Iran-US war has seen both sides step up attacks on energy infrastructure,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

She added that concerns are “shifting from a shipping crisis caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to an oil supply crisis, where energy infrastructure across the Gulf is a target.”

Trump has called for allies in Europe and elsewhere to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz saying at the weekend that securing the waterway “should have always been a team effort, and now it will be”.

However, the response has been lukewarm, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying the war started by US-Israeli strikes on Iran was “not a matter for NATO”, while Britain, Spain, Poland, Greece and Sweden all distanced themselves from the calls.

Australia and Japan also opted not to join.

– Key figures at around 1115 GMT –

West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.1 percent at $96.36 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 3.0 percent at $103.18 per barrel

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 10,380.56 points

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 7,976.89

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 23,606.27

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 53,700.39 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 25,868.54 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 4,049.91 (close)

New York – Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 46,946.41 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1513 from $1.1510 on Monday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3333 from $1.3327

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.07 yen from 159.14 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.35 pence from 86.36 pence