By Mike Dolan

LONDON (Reuters) -What matters in U.S. and global markets today

I'm excited to announce that I'm now part of Reuters Open Interest (ROI), an essential new source for data-driven, expert commentary on market and economic trends. You can find ROI on the Reuters website, and you can follow us on LinkedIn and X.

In this latest round of Middle East violence, the oil price has been remarkable as much for what it hasn't done as for what it has. Oil prices initially rose this morning following the U.S. strike on Iran over the weekend, but crude has since given back all these gains.

I'll discuss this and the rest of the market news below, and then in today’s column, I ask why markets are remaining surprisingly calm despite mounting U.S. debt concerns.

Today's Market Minute

* Iran said on Monday that the U.S. attack on its nuclear sites expanded the range of legitimate targets for its armed forces and called U.S. President Donald Trump a "gambler" for joining Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

* The U.S. bombing injected fresh uncertainty into the outlook for inflation and economic activity at the start of a week chock full of new economic data and central banker commentary, including two days of Congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

* Utilities in the developed world are stressing over how to keep up with demand from data centres and artificial intelligence searches. But globally, keeping people cool is likely to be a much bigger drain on electricity grids and a more pressing power sector challenge. Read the latest from ROI global energy transition columnist Gavin Maguire.

* The escalation of the Middle East conflict could lead Tehran to disrupt vital exports of oil and gas from the region, sparking a surge in energy prices. But as ROI energy columnist Ron Bousso says, history tells us that any disruption would likely be short-lived.

* Several recent global developments have sparked some of the highest levels of uncertainty in decades. ROI outside contributor Joachim Klement claims equity investors seeking clarity should be careful what they wish for.

Oil keeps calm, MidEast conflict carries on

With global stock and bond markets using crude as a lodestar for how they react to the Iran crisis, the remarkably quick reverse and decline in U.S. oil prices on Monday have seen U.S. and European equities rally following the weekend events.

Wall Street futures were up about 0.25% ahead of Monday's bell. European and Chinese were higher too, with Japan's Nikkei bucking the trend even as the yen weakened. Mostly due to the yen slide, the dollar index was firmer.