Oil prices dipped and stocks mostly edged higher Tuesday as investors held out hope that despite conflictual rhetoric there was scope for a deal to end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil and gas shipments.
Iran had not yet sent a delegation to neighbouring Pakistan for a new round of peace talks with the United States, even as the two-week ceasefire is set to expire by Wednesday.
Brent North Sea crude, the international benchmark, was largely flat after surging the previous day after Iran reclosed the Strait of Hormuz.