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A tweet from Energy Secretary Chris Wright claiming the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz sent oil prices plunging to $77 a barrel before it was deleted minutes later, after which prices rebounded to around $85.

The episode opened with markets absorbing this whipsaw in energy prices alongside fresh inflation data. The S&P 500 closed down 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq finished essentially flat after intraday swings. Oil had already risen sharply since the conflict with Iran began on February 28, reaching levels 30 percent higher than the pre-war baseline despite falling from an earlier peak near $119. The International Energy Agency’s 32 member countries were set to vote on releasing 400 million barrels from strategic reserves, the largest such action on record, in an effort to add supply and ease price pressure. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained halted, with reports that morning of three cargo vessels struck by projectiles off Iran’s coast.

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