Worries over impact on oil prices after US bombing of Iran

World braced for economic upheaval, with uncertainty over how markets will react to latest Middle East attacks

People attend a protest in Tehran against the US attack on nuclear sites. Photo: Reuters

Suzanne McGee, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Lewis Krauskopf
©Reuters

A US attack on Iranian nuclear sites could push oil prices even higher and trigger a knee-jerk rush to safety, investors said, as they assessed how the latest escalation of tensions would ripple through the global economy.

The reaction in Middle East stock markets, which trade on Sunday, suggested investors were assuming a benign outcome, even as Iran intensified its missile attacks on Israel in response to the sudden, deep US involvement in the conflict.