Brent slips to $103 as traders bet on calmer Iran week

CNBC and Rio Times reported that Brent crude fell about 1% to around $103 a barrel in trading into 10 October 2026, after settling the previous day at $104.28. US President Donald Trump's statement that Washington would not strike Iran before November's midterm elections, and his talk of 'productive' talks on ending the war, cooled fears of an immediate shock to Gulf shipping. Analysts still flagged that Tehran had stepped up tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil and gas typically passes, and Yemen's Houthis denied losing key territory. The US EIA kept its fourth-quarter Brent forecast at $105 a barrel, and Rio Times noted that over the past month Brent was down 2.97% but still up 66.48% year on year. Energy writers called oil 'the fastest route from geopolitics to inflation', warning that any renewed escalation around Hormuz could push crude sharply higher again and tighten household budgets worldwide.