LONDON (AFP)
Oil prices eased on Monday as investors balanced hopes for the crucial Strait of Hormuz reopening with concerns over further attacks on energy infrastructure.
As the Middle East war entered its third week, most European stocks climbed while Asian stocks mainly fell.
International benchmark Brent North Sea crude was up just 0.1 percent -- after rising about three percent earlier in the day -- and the main US contract West Texas Intermediate shed more than one percent.
That came as a non-Iranian oil tanker transited the Strait of Hormuz with its automatic transponder system activated, despite major disruption to shipping in the crucial waterway, according to monitor Marine Traffic.
US President Donald Trump piled pressure on world powers over the weekend to help reopen the vital shipping lane choked off by Iranian attacks.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London was working with allies to come up with a "viable" plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has declared closed to US and US-allied traffic.
The London, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets rose on Monday, but analysts warned that market sentiment remained fragile.
In Asia, Tokyo and Shanghai closed lower.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS his country was not interested in talks with Washington, but was ready to speak to countries about safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Traders' attention will turn this week to policy meetings of major central banks including the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan.
While they are expected to stand pat on interest rates, any remarks on the impact of the war and rising energy prices on their respective economies will be closely followed.