New Delhi, July 9 -- Brent crude prices surged sharply on Thursday, reaching USD 78/barrel following the fresh US strikes on Iran and renewed concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East.

Brent crude was trading at USD 78.68/barrel, up 0.95 per cent (USD 0.74) from the previous close of USD 78.02 at the time of writing this article. It hit a day high of USD 79.15 per barrel while crude oil was trading at USD 74.22 per barrel, surging 0.92 per cent/ 0.68 cents.

Both Brent and WTI crude futures had already climbed more than USD 1 in after-hours trading on Wednesday after US military launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran.

US stocks ended mixed on Wednesday after President Donald Trump told the NATO summit in Turkey that the ceas...