Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has jolted the world economy, causing a spike in fuel prices that has rippled through other sectors with effects far beyond the Middle East. It has also left tens of thousands of mariners and hundreds of ships stranded in the Persian Gulf.
Iran effectively seized control of the critical waterway after the U.S. and Israel attacked it on Feb. 28. Weeks of heavy bombing and a U.S. naval blockade imposed last month have yet to loosen its grip. Iran says it will only reopen the strait if the war ends and the blockade is lifted. U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking wider concessions, including the rollback of Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Click to Gallery
Container ships sit at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026.(Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
An Iranian tugboat floats in the foreground as cargo ships sit at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, May 4, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
A patrol boat moves through the water as cargo ships sit at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026.(Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
A man waves an Iranian flag for a pro-government campaign under a billboard with graphic showing Strait of Hormuz and sewn lips of U.S. President Donald Trump in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Here is a look at the strait by the numbers:
This is the width of the strait, which bends like an elbow, at its narrowest point between Iran and Oman. Ships follow narrow lanes to safely navigate the shallow water, making it even more of a chokepoint.
Before the war, a fifth of the world’s traded oil typically flowed through the strait every day, as well as large supplies of natural gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products.
The number of ships that passed through the strait each day before the war began, including oil tankers and cargo ships, according to research firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
The number of ships that are believed to have passed through the strait from the start of hostilities through May 4, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence. Many are believed to have carried Iranian oil. In normal times, an estimated 6,500 to 8,450 ships would have transited the strait during the same period.
The amount that the average price of gas in the U.S. has risen since the war began. The average price of a gallon was $4.56 on Thursday, according to AAA. The closure of the strait has also nearly doubled the cost of jet fuel.
Insurance rates for ships have skyrocketed from 1% of the ship’s goods up to as much as 10%, according to shipping experts.
The number of people who could experience hunger, mostly in Asia and Africa, if the strait does not open soon, according to the U.N. World Food Program. The blocking of fuel and fertilizer shipments could soon push the price of food and other necessities out of reach for those already in a precarious situation, it said.
The number of mariners who have been killed since the Iran war began, according to the U.N.’s International Maritime Organization.
The number of ships that have come under attack, according to the International Maritime Organization.
The number of vessels, from 87 countries, currently stranded in the Persian Gulf, according to the U.S. military.
The number of mariners stranded on these ships, including many from South and Southeast Asia.
The number of U.S. soldiers, accompanied by 100 aircraft, committed to enforce Project Freedom, according to the U.S. military. Trump's initiative to guide ships through the strait was paused on Tuesday, just two days after he announced it.
Associated Press writer David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed.
Container ships sit at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026.(Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
An Iranian tugboat floats in the foreground as cargo ships sit at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, May 4, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
A patrol boat moves through the water as cargo ships sit at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026.(Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
A man waves an Iranian flag for a pro-government campaign under a billboard with graphic showing Strait of Hormuz and sewn lips of U.S. President Donald Trump in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is hanging just below its records Thursday as oil prices keep dropping on hopes that a deal may be nearing to allow tankers to deliver crude once again from the Persian Gulf to customers.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 0.5% to $100.76, down from more than $115 early this week. It and gasoline are still much more expensive than they were before the war with Iran began, but hope is rising in financial markets as Iran said it was reviewing the latest U.S. proposals on ending their war.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% from its all-time high set the day before after a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said, “We expect an agreement sooner rather than later.” Pakistan has been acting as a mediator between the United States and Iran, and the hope is that they will reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Its closure during the war has kept oil tankers trapped in the Persian Gulf and sent prices higher for crude and all kinds of products.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 244 points, or 0.5%, as of 1:14 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1% from its own record.
Of course, Wall Street has rallied strongly before on hopes for a coming end to the war with Iran, only to get quickly disappointed. That could happen again, and tensions are still high in the Middle East after a U.S. fighter jet shot out the rudder of an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman Wednesday as it tried to breach the American blockade of Iran’s ports.
Despite all those uncertainties, a powerful parade of U.S. companies saying they made even bigger profits during the first three months of the year than analysts expected has helped support the U.S. stock market. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.
Datadog leaped 25.7% to help lead the U.S. market after the monitoring and security platform for cloud applications topped analysts' expectations for profit in the latest quarter.
Albemarle rose 6.1% after the lithium products and specialty chemicals company likewise delivered better-than-expected results. Taser maker Axon Enterprise rallied 10.2% after raising its forecast for revenue this year in part because of big growth for its counter-drone products.
They helped offset a 12.5% drop for Whirlpool, which tumbled after reporting much weaker results than analysts expected. It announced the largest price increases in a decade for its major appliances in North America, while accelerating cuts to its costs, as it contends with weaker confidence among U.S. consumers.
Shake Shack dropped 28.4% after its results for the latest quarter fell well below analysts' expectations.
McDonald’s was mostly unchanged even though its revenue for the latest quarter edged past analysts’ expectations. CEO Chris Kempczinski said high gasoline prices and consumer anxiety over the Iran war could dent its sales this spring.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.38% from 4.36% late Wednesday, but remains down from 4.45% early this week.
Lower yields can bring down rates for mortgages and other kinds of loans going to U.S. households and businesses, which in turn can give the economy a boost. Lower yields also tend to push upward on prices for stocks and other kinds of investments.
The 10-year Treasury yield, though, remains well above its 3.97% level from just before the war.
Several reports on the U.S. economy also came in mixed. One said more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the increase was not as bad as economists expected. Another report suggested that productivity for U.S. workers improved by only half of what economists expected for the latest quarter.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 roared 5.6% higher as trading in Tokyo reopened following a holiday and caught up with big gains for Asian markets from earlier in the week. It’s at a record after soaring nearly 71% in the last 12 months on strength for tech stocks benefiting from the boom in artificial intelligence.
“I think it’s a kind of bubble because buying activity concentrated on leading AI, artificial intelligence stock and semiconductor-related stocks. It’s a situation where only semiconductor stocks are being bought,” said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at MONEX.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
Robert Finnerty, Jr., foreground right, works with colleagues on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Edward McCarthy, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A display shows $20 for gasoline on a gas pump at a Mobil gas station on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
FILE - People pass the New York Stock Exchange on May 28, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
FILE - American flags fly outside the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Trader Joseph Stevens, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
