Oil near $100 as Middle East tensions escalate; markets mixed
Oil prices climbed toward $100 a barrel as Middle East tensions intensified, with Brent near $97 and WTI above $93, while U.S. gasoline surpassed $4 a gallon for Labor Day; markets were mixed as investors return from the long weekend and the Strait of Hormuz remains a key chokepoint. Separately, Europe’s AI startup Mistral raised about €3 billion at a €21 billion valuation, and Italy’s banking sector is seeing a wave of M&A activity, highlighting how geopolitics and tech funding are shaping markets.