Overview
- Exxon Mobil shares rose more than 3% as energy stocks rallied while the broader market fell.
- Brent crude traded above $110 per barrel after shipments through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupted by about 17.8 million barrels a day.
- President Trump extended Iran’s deadline to reopen the strait by 10 days to April 6, which paused planned actions but left flows constrained.
- Morgan Stanley raised its Exxon price target to $172 from $134 and boosted its 2026 and 2027 commodity and earnings forecasts.
- Investors marked down the chance of near‑term Federal Reserve rate cuts to zero as higher oil stoked inflation worries and kept energy leading other sectors.