Oil prices dive as US, Iran pause missile exchanges

(Sharecast News) - Oil prices dived on Monday as traders reacted to the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran, easing fears of an immediate escalation in the recent missile exchanges over the past 10 days that had threatened to disrupt Middle Eastern supply routes.

Brent fell 6.1% to $90.88 a barrel, with markets cautiously welcoming signs that mediation efforts were gaining traction even as fighting continued in pockets across the region.

The ceasefire agreement, announced late on Sunday, includes a temporary halt to cross‑border strikes and guarantees for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz - a corridor that handles around a fifth of global crude flows.

Washington framed the pause as a step toward broader talks, but officials stressed that Iran must rein in allied militias operating in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. Over the weekend, Yemen's Houthi movement threatened to block Saudi shipping, raising fears of a second flashpoint that could quickly undo the ceasefire's stabilising effect.

Senior officials in the Trump administration had reportedly told US President Donald Trump that ammunition stockpiles were running low and could hamper a sustained military campaign in the region.

The Axios news website on Sunday reported that Admiral Bradley Cooper, the top US military commander in the region, told Trump the US military campaign had reached the limits of its effectiveness.

Cooper told Trump the US had nearly exhausted the list of targets that it had developed to attack in Iran, and without a return to major combat operations there was little point in continuing the bombing campaign, Axios added.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com