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Oil prices extended their gains on Wednesday after renewed exchanges of fire between Iran and the U.S. in the Strait of Hormuz, as President Donald Trump remarked that the ceasefire "is over."
International benchmark Brent topped $78 per barrel as of 8:35 a.m. GMT, while European gas prices at the Dutch TTF hub also climbed to €49 ($55.9) per megawatt-hour.
The renewed tensions also rattled financial markets, sending Europe's STOXX 600 index down 1.6%—its sharpest daily decline since mid-March.
Türkiye's benchmark BIST 100 index dropped more than 1.7%, while futures tied to all major U.S. indexes turned lower, with Nasdaq 100 futures falling 1.5% to their lowest level in four weeks.
Gold fell more than 1.6% to around $4,040, silver slid 2.6% to $58.4 per ounce, and bitcoin retreated more than 2.3% to $61,880.
The rout came after U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the NATO leaders' summit in Ankara, dismissed the prospect of reviving the truce with Tehran.
"For me, I think it's over," Trump said. "As far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of time."
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran announced it had launched missiles and drones at U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait after new U.S. strikes on Iranian targets.
Tehran said it had targeted the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and Ali Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait in retaliation for U.S. attacks that followed assaults on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Defending Washington's response, Trump said the United States had struck back with overwhelming force. "We hit them very hard last night, very hard. I would say 20 to 120 times tougher. And I told them every time you hit, we hit," he said.
The latest escalation further weakened the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, reached in June, which called for a suspension of attacks on commercial shipping, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, limited Iranian oil exports and a 60-day negotiating process on Iran's nuclear program, sanctions relief and maritime security.
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