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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.
US software and hardware manufacturer, Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL), announced results for its fiscal 2024 second quarter after the market close on Monday. Company overview Founded: June 16, 1977 Headquarters: Austin, Texas, United States Number of employees: 164,000 (2023) Industry: Enterprise software, business software, cloud computing, computer hardware, consulting Key people: Larry Ellison (Executive Chairman & CTO), Jeff Henley (Vice Chairman), Safra Catz (CEO) The results Oracle reported revenue that fell short of analyst estimates of $12.941 billion (an increase of 5% year-over-year) for the quarter vs. $13.052 billion expected. Earnings per share (EPS) reported at $1.34 per share, above analyst estimate of $1.327 per share.
CEO commentary "Demand for our Cloud Infrastructure and Generative AI services is increasing at an astronomical rate. As a measure of that demand, Oracle's total Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO) climbed to over $65 billion—exceeding annual revenue. Our cloud businesses are now at nearly a $20 billion-dollar annual revenue run rate, and cloud services demand continues to grow at unprecedented levels.
Business is good and getting better," Safra Catz, CEO of the company highlighted the growth of the company in a statement to investors. Stock reaction Shares were up by 1.34% at the end of trading on Monday at $115.13 a share. The stock fell in the after-hours trading by around 9% after Oracle missed revenue estimates for the previous quarter.
Stock performance 1 month: 0.86% 3 months: -9.14% Year-to-date: +40.85% 1 year: +41.65% Oracle stock price targets Morgan Stanley: $107 Evercore ISI: $135 BMO Capital Markets: $130 Piper Sandler: $130 Guggenheim: $150 Berenberg Bank: $110 Mizuho: $150 HSBC: $144 JP Morgan: $100 Barclays: $147 UBS Group: $135 Citigroup: $138 Oracle Corporation is the 26th largest company in the world with a market cap of $315.22 billion. You can trade Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD. GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs.
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Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) reported its latest financial results after the closing bell in the US on Wednesday. World’s leading customer relationship management company topped both revenue and earnings per share estimates (EPS) for the third quarter of fiscal 2024. Company overview Founded: February 3, 1999 Headquarters: Salesforce Tower, San Francisco, California, United States Number of employees: 79,390 (2023) Industry: Cloud computing, Enterprise software, Consulting Key people: Marc Benioff (Chairman & CEO) The results The company reported revenue of $8.72 billion vs. $8.715 billion expected.
Revenue was up by 11% vs. the same period last year. EPS reported at $2.11 per share (up by 50.71% year-over-year) vs. $2.055 per share estimate. CEO commentary "We had another strong quarter of executing on our profitable growth plan we set in motion last year, delivering $8.7 billion in revenue and again raising our operating margin guidance for this fiscal year," Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce commented on the latest results. "We're now the third largest enterprise software company by revenue, the number one AI CRM and the number one enterprise apps company.
Most importantly, we're bringing CRM, data, AI and trust together in a single, integrated platform, leading our customers into a new era of incredible productivity and growth," Benioff concluded. Stock reaction Shares of Salesforce ended Thursday’s session up by 2.41% at $230.35 a share. The stock was up by 8% in the after-hours trading.
Stock performance 1 month: +12.40% 3 months: +6.58% Year-to-date: +72.86% 1 year: +43.03% Salesforce stock price targets RBC Capital: $240 Piper Sandler: $232 Macquarie: $250 Truist Financial: $275 Goldman Sachs: $340 Citigroup: $230 Salesforce Inc. is the 41st largest company in the world with a market cap of $224.35 billion. You can trade Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD. GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs.
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PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD) reported Q3 financial results before the market open in the US on Tuesday. The Chinese company beat both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) estimates, sending the stock higher. Company overview Founded: 2015 Headquarters: Shanghai, China Number of employees: 12,992 (2022) Industry: Internet, Agriculture Key people: Lei Chen The results PDD reported revenue of $7.207 billion for the quarter (up by 94% year-over-year), well above the $5.982 billion expected.
EPS reported at $1.28 per share vs. $1.007 per share estimate. CEO commentary "We are dedicated to generating value through innovations, which forms the foundation of our high-quality development," Lei Chen, CEO of PDD Holdings said in the Q3 earnings report press release. "We continued to invest decisively in areas such as agritech, supply chain technology, and core R&D capabilities. Through these efforts, we aim to create our unique value" Chen highlighted where the company is looking to improve moving forward.
Stock reaction The latest results had a huge impact on the stock. Shares were up by over 18% on Tuesday at $139.84 a share – the highest level since March 2021. Stock performance 1 month: +37.67% 3 months: +49.78% Year-to-date: +71.21% 1 year: +78.02% PDD stock price targets HSBC: $125 Bank of America: $112 Credit Suisse: $140 Barclays: $115 JP Morgan: $120 PDD Holdings is the 58 th largest company in the world with a market cap of $185.31 billion.
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One of the most anticipated earnings releases in the calendar is here. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) announced the latest results after the closing bell on Tuesday. Let’s see how one of the companies from the ''trillion club'' performed.
Company overview Founded: 5/4/1993 Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, United States Number of employees: 26,196 (2023) Industry: Computer hardware, computer software, cloud computing, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, GPUs Graphics cards Consumer electronics Video games Key people: Jensen Huang (President and CEO) The results NVIDIA reported revenue that beat Wall Street estimates at $18.12 billion for the third quarter fiscal 2024 vs. $16.12 billion expected. Revenues were up by 205% year-over-year. Earnings per share also beat estimates at $4.02 per share (up by 48.88% year-over-year) vs. $3.367 per share expected.
The company expects revenue of around $20 billion for the fourth quarter. CEO commentary "Our strong growth reflects the broad industry platform transition from general-purpose to accelerated computing and generative AI," Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA said in a letter to investors. "Large language model startups, consumer internet companies and global cloud service providers were the first movers, and the next waves are starting to build. Nations and regional CSPs are investing in AI clouds to serve local demand, enterprise software companies are adding AI copilots and assistants to their platforms, and enterprises are creating custom AI to automate the world’s largest industries.
NVIDIA GPUs, CPUs, networking, AI foundry services and NVIDIA AI Enterprise software are all growth engines in full throttle. The era of generative AI is taking off," Huang highlighted how the world is adapting to and embracing AI. Stock reaction The stock was down by 0.92% at $499.44 a share before the results were announced.
Share price fell by around 1% in the after-hours trading as the market digested the latest results. Stock performance 1 month: +14.39% 3 months: +9.36% Year-to-date: +241.75% 1 year: +211.41% NVIDIA stock price targets Stifel: $600 Piper Sandler: $620 Wedbush: $600 Bernstein: $675 Keybanc: $650 Morgan Stanley: $600 Citigroup: $575 Truist Securities: $668 Jefferies: $610 TD Cowen: $600 NVIDIA Corporation is the 6th largest company in the world with a market cap of $1.233 trillion. You can trade NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD.
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Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) released first quarter of fiscal 2024 earnings results after the market close in the US on Wednesday. US semiconductor company reported revenue of $4.726 billion, which was above Wall Street analyst estimate of $4.581 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) reported loss per share of -$0.95 for the quarter vs. -$1.005 loss per share expected.
Company overview Founded: October 5, 1978 Headquarters: Boise, Idaho, United States Number of employees: Robert E. Switz (Chairman), Sanjay Mehrotra (President & CEO) Industry: Semiconductors Key people: 43,000 (2023) CEO commentary "Micron’s strong execution and pricing drove better-than-anticipated first quarter financial results," Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of the company said in a press release. "We expect our business fundamentals to improve throughout 2024, with record industry TAM projected for calendar 2025. Our industry-leading High Bandwidth Memory for data center AI applications illustrates the strength of our technology and product roadmaps, and we are well positioned to capitalize on the immense opportunities artificial intelligence is fueling across end markets," Mehrotra looked at what’s ahead for Micron.
Stock reaction The stock was down by 4.24% at the end of trading on Wednesday at $78.69 a share. Shares rose by around 4% after Micron topped analyst estimates for the quarter. Stock performance 1 month: +2.13% 3 months: +13% Year-to-date: +57.54% 1 year: +53.82% Micron Technology stock price targets Rosenblatt Securities: $100 BMO Capital Markets: $90 TD Cowen: $100 Susquehanna: $112 Stifel Nicolaus: $76 Bank of America: $95 UBS Group: $90 Mizuho: $86 Citigroup: $88 Barclays: $85 Morgan Stanley: $71.50 JP Morgan: $80 Micron Technology Inc. is the 168th largest company in the world with a market cap of $86.86 billion.
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One of the largest food retailers in the United States, Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), announced Q3 earnings results before the opening bell in Wall Street on Thursday. Company overview Founded: 1883 Headquarters: Cincinnati, Ohio, United States Number of employees: 465,000 (2022) Industry: Retail Key people: Rodney McMullen (CEO & Chairman) The results Korger reported revenue of $33.957 billion for the quarter, narrowly beating analyst estimate of $33.903 billion. Earnings per share reported at $0.95 per share vs. $0.907 per share expected.
CEO commentary Rodney McMullen, CEO of the company had this to say in the letter to investors after the release of Q3 results: "Kroger's third quarter results highlight the strength and diversity of our business model in a challenged operating environment, as strong fuel performance and growth in our alternative profit businesses supported continued adjusted net earnings per diluted share growth. As consumer spending tightens, we are focused on providing customers with exceptional value. By maintaining our long-term commitment to lower prices, personalised promotions and rewards, we are growing households and increasing loyalty, positioning Kroger for sustainable future growth.
We appreciate our associates and continue to invest in wages, benefits and training, which is resulting in continued improvements in our customer experience. "Our model's strength allows us to navigate many economic environments. We remain committed to balancing investments in associates and greater value for our customers while continuing to generate attractive and sustainable returns for our shareholders," McMullen highlighted the importance of the companies strategy to continue deliver solid results in the future. Stock reaction The stock had a positive reaction following the Q3 results announcement.
Shares were up by just over 2% at $44.59 a share. Stock performance 1 month: -1.59% 3 months: -3.69% Year-to-date: +0.22% 1 year: -7.71% Kroger stock price targets Telsey Advisory Group: $44.88 Roth MKM: $48 Deutsche Bank: $50 Bernstein: $54 BMO Capital: $45 Northcoast Research: $60 Kroger Co. is the 549th largest company in the world with a market cap of $32.29 billion. You can trade Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD.
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