UKMTO SAYS IT O UNDERSTANDS THAT FORMAL DETAILS OF THESE MEASURES, INCLUDING ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS AND EXEMPTIONS, WILL BE PROMULGATED AND UPDATED THROUGH OFFICIAL NOTICE TO MARINERS

AT CLOSE, HANG SENG DOWN 0.9%, TECH INDEX DOWN 0.79%

The U.S. threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz could further escalate the Middle East conflict, says Vivek Dhar of Commonwealth Bank of Australia. He notes the move would directly threaten Iran’s oil exports via the strait, which were around 1.7 million barrels per day last month, tightening already constrained oil and refined product markets. Dhar adds that physical oil scarcity is pushing delivery-linked benchmarks sharply higher, with prices in some cases trading above $140 a barrel in the coming weeks.