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The 8 April ceasefire announcement and parallel discussions around a 45-day truce have not resolved the Strait of Hormuz disruption. They have, for now, capped the worst-case scenario, but tanker traffic remains at a fraction of normal levels and Iran's demand for transit fees signals a structural shift, not a temporary one.
What began as a regional conflict has become a global energy shock, and the question for markets is no longer whether Hormuz was disrupted, but how permanently the disruption changes the pricing floor for oil.
Key takeaways
- Around 20 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil and petroleum products normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, equal to about one-fifth of global oil consumption and roughly 30% of global seaborne oil trade.
- This is a flow shock, not an inventory problem. Oil markets depend on continuous throughput, not static storage.
- If the disruption persists beyond a few weeks, Brent could shift from a short-term spike to a broader price shock, with stagflation risk.
- Tanker traffic through the strait fell from around 135 ships per day to fewer than 15 at the peak of disruption, a reduction of approximately 85%, with more than 150 vessels anchored, diverted, or delayed.
- A two-week ceasefire was announced on 8 April, with 45-day truce negotiations under way. Iran has separately signalled a demand for transit fees on vessels using the strait, which, if formalised, would represent a permanent geopolitical floor on energy costs.
- Markets have begun rotating away from growth and technology exposure toward energy and defence names, reflecting a view that elevated oil is becoming a structural cost rather than a temporary risk premium.
The world’s most critical oil chokepoint
The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20 million barrels per day of oil and petroleum products, equal to about 20% of global oil consumption and around 30% of global seaborne oil trade. With global oil demand near 104 million bpd and spare capacity limited, the market was already tightly balanced before the latest escalation.
The strait is also a critical corridor for liquefied natural gas. Around 290 million cubic metres of LNG transited the route each day on average in 2024, representing roughly 20% of global LNG trade, with Asian markets the main destination.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has described Hormuz as the world’s most important oil transit chokepoint, noting that even partial interruptions may trigger outsized price moves. Brent crude has moved above US$100 a barrel, reflecting both physical tightness and a rising geopolitical risk premium.
Tankers idle as flows slow
Shipping and insurance data now point to strain in real time. More than 85 large crude carriers are reported to be stranded in the Persian Gulf, while more than 150 vessels have been anchored, diverted or delayed as operators reassess safety and insurance cover. That would leave an estimated 120 million to 150 million barrels of crude sitting idle at sea.
Those volumes represent only six to seven days of normal Hormuz throughput, or a little more than one day of global oil consumption.
Updated shipping and insurance data now confirm more than 150 vessels have been anchored, diverted, or delayed, up from the 85 initially reported. The 1.3 days of global consumption coverage from idle crude remains the binding constraint: this is a flow shock, not a storage problem, and the ceasefire has not yet translated into meaningfully restored throughput.
A market built on flow, not storage
Oil markets function on continuous movement. Refineries, petrochemical plants and global supply chains are calibrated to steady deliveries along predictable sea lanes. When flows through a chokepoint that carries roughly one-fifth of global oil consumption and around 30% of global seaborne oil trade are interrupted, the system can move from equilibrium to deficit within days.
Spare production capacity, largely concentrated within OPEC, is estimated at only 3 million to 5 million bpd. That falls well short of the volumes at risk if Hormuz flows are severely disrupted.
Oil market analysis
How long do idle tankers last?
135M idle barrels — days of cover against each demand benchmark
vs. Strait of Hormuz daily flow (20M bbl/day)
vs. Global oil consumption (104M bbl/day)
vs. US Strategic Petroleum Reserve release (1M bbl/day)
135M
idle barrels on tankers (midpoint of 120–150M range)
~33%
of daily Hormuz flow that is idle storage, not transit
<31 hrs
is all idle storage against global daily consumption
Inflation risks and macro spillovers
The inflationary impact of an oil shock typically arrives in waves. Higher fuel and energy prices may lift headline inflation quickly as petrol, diesel and power costs move higher.
Over time, higher energy costs may pass through freight, food, manufacturing and services. If the disruption persists, the combination of elevated inflation and slower growth could raise the risk of a stagflationary environment and leave central banks facing a difficult trade-off.
No easy offset, a system with little slack
What makes the current episode particularly acute is the lack of slack in the global system.
Global supply and demand near 103 million to 104 million bpd leave little spare cushion when a chokepoint handling nearly 20 million bpd, or about one-fifth of global oil consumption, is compromised. Estimated spare capacity of 3 million to 5 million bpd, mostly within OPEC, would cover only a fraction of the volumes at risk.
Alternative routes, including pipelines that bypass Hormuz and rerouted shipping, can only partly offset lost flows, and usually at higher cost and with longer lead times.
Bottom line
Until transit through the Strait of Hormuz is restored and seen as credibly secure, global oil flows are likely to remain impaired and risk premia elevated. For investors, policymakers and corporate decision-makers, the core question is whether oil can move where it needs to go, every day, without interruption.
One of the most anticipated earnings calls of the week is here. Mark Zuckerberg’s, Meta Platforms Inc. (NYSE:META), announced the latest results from Q4 2023 after the market closed on Thursday. The company did not disappoint investors and topped both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) estimates, sending the stock higher.
Meta achieved revenue of $40.111 billion for the last quarter of 2023 vs. $39.124 billion expected. Revenue was up by 25% year-over-year. EPS reached $5.33 per share vs. $4.822 per share estimate, rising by 205% from the same period last year.
The tech giant also announced its first ever dividend of $0.50 per share. The dividend will be paid to shareholders as of close of business on 22/2/2024 and will be paid on 26/3/2024. Meta plans to distribute a dividend every quarter ''subject to market conditions and approval by our board of directors.'' Company overview Founded: 2004 Headquarters: 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, United States Number of employees: 66,185 (2023) Industry: Social media, Social network advertising, Consumer electronics, Virtual reality Key people: Mark Zuckerberg (Chairman and CEO), Javier Olivan (COO), Susan Li (CFO), Andrew Bosworth (CTO), Chris Cox (CPO) CEO commentary Mark Zuckerberg was short and sweet in a statement to investors: "We had a good quarter as our community and business continue to grow." "We've made a lot of progress on our vision for advancing AI and the metaverse," highlighted company’s work on AI.
Stock reaction The stock was up by 1.19% at the end of Thursday at $394.78 per share. Shares rose by over 14% in the after-hours trading after Meta’s results exceeded expectations. One to watch at the open Friday.
Stock performance 5 day: +0.41% 1 month: +13.73% 3 months: +26.99% Year-to-date: +11.53% 1 year: +109.13% Meta Platforms stock price targets KeyCorp: $465 Jefferies Financial Group: $455 Raymond James: $450 Citigroup: $440 Royal Bank of Canada: $400 JMP Securities: $410 Wells Fargo & Company: $438 Piper Sandler: $415 Mizuho: $470 BMO Capital Markets: $397 Wedbush: $420 Tigress Financial: $435 Stifel Nicolaus: $405 Barclays: $400 Meta Platforms Inc. is the 7th largest company in the world with a market cap of $1.014 trillion, according to CompaniesMarketCap. You can trade Meta Platforms Inc. (NYSE:META) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX and ASX with GO Markets as a Share CFD on the MetaTrader 5 platform. To find out more, go to ''Trading'' then select ''Share CFDs''.
GO Markets offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Why trade during extended hours? Volatility never sleeps.
Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: Meta Platforms Inc., TradingView, MarketWatch, MarketBeat, CompaniesMarketCap
The US earnings season continues. To kick things off this week, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD), released Q4 2023 and full year results before the opening bell on Monday. World’s largest restaurant chain reported revenue that fell short of Wall Street expectations for the first time since Q2 2022 at $6.406 billion vs. $6.448 billion expected.
Revenue was up by 8% vs. Q4 2022. Earnings per share (EPS) reached $2.95 vs. analyst estimate of $2.827 per share.
EPS was also up by 8% year-over-year. Full year revenue reached $25.493 billion, up from $23.182 billion in 2022. EPS grew by 39% year-over-year to $11.56 per share.
Company overview Founded: 1940 Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, United States Number of employees: 150,000 (2022) Industry: Fast food restaurants, real estate Key people: Enrique Hernandez Jr. (chairman), Chris Kempczinski (president & CEO) CEO commentary "Our global comparable sales growth of 9% for the year is a testament to the tremendous dedication of the entire McDonald’s System," CEO of McDonald's, Chris Kempczinski said in a press release. "Strong execution of our Accelerating the Arches strategy has driven over 30% comparable sales growth since 2019 as our talented crew members, and the industry’s best franchisees and suppliers have demonstrated proven agility with a relentless focus on the customer. By evolving the way we work across the System, we remain confident in the resilience of our business amid macro challenges that will persist in 2024," Kempczinski added. Stock reaction The stock was down by 3.73% at the end of trading on Monday, trading at $285.97 a share, falling to its lowest level since 8/12/23.
Stock performance 5 day: -2.17% 1 month: -2.03% 3 months: +6.34% Year-to-date: -3.55% 1 year: +6.74% McDonald’s stock price targets Bank of America: $341 Stifel Nicolaus: $322 HSBC: $317 Truist Financial: $340 Piper Sandler: $299 TD Cowen: $325 BMO Capital Markets: $335 Royal Bank of Canada: $315 Citigroup: $310 DZ Bank: $300 Wedbush: $310 Stephens: $300 JP Morgan Chase & Co.: $278 McDonald’s Corporation is the 51st largest company in the world with a market cap of $207.42 billion, according to CompaniesMarketCap. You can trade McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX and ASX with GO Markets as a Share CFD on the MetaTrader 5 platform. To find out more, go to "Trading" then select "Share CFDs".
GO Markets offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Why trade during extended hours? Volatility never sleeps.
Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: McDonald’s Corporation, TradingView, MarketWatch, MarketBeat, CompaniesMarketCap
US technology giant, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), reported Q4 2023 financial results on Thursday. World’s largest semiconductor company by revenue reported revenue and earnings per share (EPS) that beat analyst estimates. Revenue reached $15.406 billion vs. $15.159 billion expected.
Revenue grew by 10% year-over-year. EPS reported at $0.54 vs. $0.447 per share estimate. EPS was up by 260% vs.
Q4 2022. Intel expects revenue of between $12.2 to $13.2 billion for Q1, below analyst estimate of $14.15 billion. EPS expected to be $0.13 vs. $0.33 per share expected.
Company overview Founded: 1968 Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, United States Number of employees: 131,900 (2022) Industry: Semiconductors, Computer hardware, Autonomous cars, Automation, Artificial intelligence Key people: Frank D. Yeary (chairman), Pat Gelsinger (CEO) CEO commentary ''We delivered strong Q4 results, surpassing expectations for the fourth consecutive quarter with revenue at the higher end of our guidance,'' CEO of Intel, Pat Gelsinger, said in a statement to investors. ''The quarter capped a year of tremendous progress on Intel's transformation, where we consistently drove execution and accelerated innovation, resulting in strong customer momentum for our products. In 2024, we remain relentlessly focused on achieving process and product leadership, continuing to build our external foundry business and at-scale global manufacturing, and executing our mission to bring AI everywhere as we drive long-term value for stakeholders,'' Gelsinger added.
Stock reaction The stock was up by 0.94% on Thursday, trading at $49.55 a share. Despite beating expectations for Q4 2023, the stock fell by around 8% in after-hours trading as future outlook came in below estimates. Stock performance 5 day: +6.01% 1 month: -1.67% 3 months: +52.37% Year-to-date: -1.39% 1 year: +64.67% Intel stock price targets Rosenblatt: $17 Cantor Fitzgerald: $50 Raymond James: $54 TD Cowen: $45 Susquehanna: $42 Barclays: $44 Stifel Nicolaus: $45 Deutsche Bank: $42 Bank of America: $50 Benchmark: $52 Mizuho: $50 Needham & Company LLC: $40 HSBC: $33 Morgan Stanley: $39 Intel Corporation is the 52nd largest company in the world with a market cap of $208.90 billion.
You can trade Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX and ASX with GO Markets as a Share CFD on the MetaTrader 5 platform. To find out more, go to ''Trading'' then select ''Share CFDs''. GO Markets offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs.
Why trade during extended hours? Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: Intel Corporation, TradingView, MarketWatch, MarketBeat, CompaniesMarketCap, Gartner, CNBC, LSEG
Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) released the latest financial results for Q4 of last year after the market closed on Tuesday. World’s 11th largest automaker did not disappoint investors and topped both revenue and earnings per share estimates (EPS). The company achieved revenue of $46 billion in the last 3 months of 2023 vs. $43.062 billion expected, up by 4.5% year-over-year.
EPS was reported at $0.29, beating Wall Street estimate by 140.22% at $0.121 per share. Company overview Founded: 1903 Headquarters: Ford World Headquarters, Dearborn, Michigan, United States Number of employees: 173,000 (2022) Industry: Automotive Key people: William Clay Ford Jr. (Executive Chairman), Jim Farley (President & CEO) CEO commentary ''We’re the only company that gives customers such a wide range of choices – gas, hybrid and electric vehicles – made possible by our Ford+ plan and the talented team that’s carrying it out,'' Jim Farley, CEO of Ford highlighted what separates the company from the competition. ''Ford is creating a product, software and services powerhouse with huge potential for this year and the long haul,'' Farley concluded his statement to investors. Stock reaction Shares were up by 4.14% at market close on Tuesday, trading at $12.07.
The stock rose in the after-hours by around 6% as investors digested the results. Stock performance 5 day: +2.46% 1 month: +1.94% 3 months: +18.68% Year-to-date: -0.98% 1 year: -10.26% Ford stock price targets UBS Group: $12 BNP Paribas: $12 HSBC: $11.30 Barclays: $14 Morgan Stanley: $15 Royal Bank of Canada: $12 Daiwa Capital Markets: $13 Jefferies Financial Group: $15 JP Morgan Chase & Co.: $16 The Goldman Sachs Group: 14 Citigroup: $17 Wells Fargo & Company: $11 Benchmark: $20 Ford Motor Company is the 367th largest company in the world with a market cap of $48.31 billion, according to CompaniesMarketCap. You can trade Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX and ASX with GO Markets as a Share CFD on the MetaTrader 5 platform.
To find out more, go to "Trading" then select "Share CFDs". GO Markets offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Why trade during extended hours?
Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: Ford Motor Company, TradingView, MarketWatch, MarketBeat, CompaniesMarketCap
USD tracked higher with yields in Tuesday’s session with the Dollar Index (DXY) hitting a high of 103.820, setting a new YTD high and breaking through the key technical levels of the 200-day SMA as well as a 50% Fib resistance level. DXY saw initial weakness in the European morning which emanated from APAC hours amid a firmer post-BoJ Yen but reversed course in the US session as UST yields climbed and earnings disappointments saw US equites struggle. JPY closed the session seeing marginal losses against the USD.
USDJPY did drop to a low of 146.97 after BoJ Governor Ueda delivered a hawkish-leaning press conference after the BoJ policy decision where he said he will certainly foresee further rate hikes when exiting negative interest rate policy. JPY gains failed to hold though with the pair retaking the 148 handle coming into the APAC open. AUD, NZD and CAD were the G10 outperformers, with all making gains against the USD.
NZD and AUD were bolstered by overnight Yuan gains and resilience in commodity prices. CAD was bid ahead of todays Bank of Canada policy meeting where the central bank is expected to hold rates steady, and possibly pushback against rate cut predictions after a hotter than expected December inflation reading.
USD was flat on Tuesday with the US dollar index (DXY) trading either side of the 200-day SMA and 50% Fib level at 103.50. FX traders turning their attention to the pivotal FOMC rate decision on Wednesday followed by the non-farm employment report on Friday. A better than expected JOLTS job opening report lending some support early in the session to the USD.
EURUSD rebounded from lows of 1.0796 after Spanish CPI printed hotter than expected and no misses on various EZ GDP figures. EUR traders attention will now turn to the German and French CPI figures due today after the hot Spanish print. USDJPY was flat for the session, still holding below the psychological 148 level ahead of the rest of the weeks risk events.
The gap between US and JP 10-year yields and price growing which should put some downward pressure on this pair. AUD underperformed on disappointing retail sales figures ahead of today’s CPI print. AUDUSD did find support at its 200-day moving average at 0.6575 where it has revolved around for the last few sessions.
Look for this level to establish strong support should we get a hot Aussie CPI today.