The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Brent crude futures breached $100 a barrel on Wednesday to settle at their highest close since late May (all figures U.S.). A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that oil's continued march higher unsettled stock investors, with Wall Street's major indexes closing lower. Front-month Brent crude futures settled up $3.29, or 3.4 per cent, at $101.21 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude was up $3.02, or 3.25 per cent, at $96.05 a barrel. Since late May, oil prices have stayed below the $100-a-barrel mark, reflecting expectations of a low-level conflict. Optimism increased after the U.S. and Iran temporarily ceased attacks. That calculus has been shifting with the resumption of strikes. Saxo Bank's Ole Hansen says, "The move toward and back above $100 Brent is reflecting a market that increasingly has to change its view on how long the Middle East crisis will continue to curb supply from the region." Futures prices are moving closer to physical crude and fuel markets, where the reality of tight supply has been apparent for the bulk of the conflict. Since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, Brent has surged as high as $126.41 a barrel, a peak reached on April 30.