Oil prices are climbing Monday following a weekend of attacks in the Middle East, while more losses for computer chipmakers and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom weigh on stock markets.

Oil prices climbed as traders worried that fresh clashes between the US and Iran could lead to further restrictions on global crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent, the

Oil prices rose and U.S. stock-index futures slipped on Sunday, after the U.S. and Iran continued their tit-for-tat attacks around the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

Oil prices have shot up further after US and Iran attacks over the weekend, in a move putting unwelcome pressure on energy and fuel costs.Benchmark Brent crude rose 4% to 79 US dollars a barrel amid confusion over the Strait of Hormuz,