LONDON, April 24 -- Oil prices extended gains today and stock markets largely declined as investors worried about a lack of progress in ending the Middle East crisis, with Tehran keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed and the US maintaining a blockade of Iranian ports.

The standoff weighed on equity markets across Asia and Europe, while oil's international benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, was up more than 1 per cent at nearly US$107 (RM424) a barrel.

A week that started with hopes that the United States and Iran would hold fresh peace negotiations was set to end on a negative note, with President Donald Trump saying he had "all the time in the world" despite fears about the war's inflationary impact on the global economy.

With few develo...