Business - Monday, March 9, 2026

Gold pared gains as the dollar recouped some losses, with conflicting news about the war in the Middle East whipsawing oil prices and obscuring the outlook for US interest-rate cuts.

U.S. stock market indexes rose earlier in the day after an initial report that President Donald Trump said he believed the Iran war was largely finished.

President Trump insists the conflict will be brief, but world leaders are preparing for severe economic blowback.

Oil tumbled amid mounting assurances from global leaders that policy interventions will blunt the impact of the Iran war on energy prices, while the conflict continues to disrupt crude production and refining in the Middle East.

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Chancellor says she is ready to help households with rising costs but stops short of setting out specific steps Middle East crisis – live updates Britain is likely to be hit by rising inflation because of the US war with Iran, the chancellor has said, as she suggested a “rapid de-escalation” would be the best protection against a jump in energy prices. Rachel Reeves stopped short of setting out any new relief for people who could be hit by rising prices, rebuffing calls to ditch a planned 5p rise in fuel duty in September. The price of Brent crude oil rocketed to as high as $119.50 on Sunday, a jump of 29%. The Bank of England is now expected to keep interest rates on hold through 2026, with a small possibility of a rise in 2027. The prospect of a prolonged conflict and higher inflation also pushed global markets lower. The AA said drivers could “consider cutting out some non-essential journeys and changing their driving style to conserve fuel”. Continue reading...

While the set-up in Great Britain looks secure for now, the Iran war shows why more storage seems essential Alarmed that Great Britain has only enough gas in storage to cover two days of consumption ? Actually, Michael Shanks, the energy minister, is right that the bald statistic is not a reason to run for the hills. But he would help his case if he admitted that the long era of running a “just-in-time” approach to gas supplies looks increasingly unworkable. Shanks is obviously correct that Great Britain does not source its supplies from storage. About 75% of our gas comes from the North Sea – from domestic fields and via the 725-mile underwater Langeled pipeline from Norway – and neither source is affected by the war in Iran. Continue reading...

Gas prices are rising, with the cost of food likely to follow. If the conflict drags on, the fallout for consumers could worsen, experts warned.

Pennington, 26, from Glendale, Kentucky, was wounded on March 1 during an Iranian strike at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. He died on Sunday.