“They’re firing on commercial ships and they’ve mined large segments of Hormuz \u2014 international waters,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This marks his first appearance before Congress since the Iran war on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n
A White House official told CNBC that the Pentagon has destroyed numerous mines and over 40 minelaying vessels. <\/p>\n
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical waterway, particularly for the energy market globally \u2014 around 20% of the world’s oil supplies passed through the strait before the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Japan’s\u00a0Nikkei 225<\/a>\u00a0extended early gains to rise 2.94%, while the Topix added 2.14%.<\/p>\n Mainland China’s CSI 300 was 1.52% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng<\/a> lost 1.73%. <\/p>\n Australia’s S&P\/ASX 200<\/a> rose 0.82% even as the country reported GDP growth of 2.5% year on year for the first three months this year, missing economists’ expectations of 2.6%. Growth was pressured by weaker household spending, lower government consumption, as well as impact from severe weather disruption to the mining industry. <\/p>\n India’s Nifty 50<\/a> fell 0.78%, while the BSE Sensex slipped 0.85%.<\/p>\n South Korea’s markets were closed for a holiday. <\/p>\n The\u00a0West Texas Intermediate<\/a>\u00a0futures for June were 1.00% higher at $94.70 per barrel as of 11:45 p.m. ET.\u00a0Brent crude<\/a>\u00a0futures for July gained 0.92% at $96.88 per barrel.<\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon![\"hide](\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/a54b41835a8b60db28c2.svg\")
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