World shares retreat as report of damage to oil takers pushes oil prices higher

World shares and U.S. futures retreated on Thursday as oil prices jumped more than 2% following a report by Iran's state television that seven oil tankers caught fire and were damaged in the Strait of Hormuz.If the report is verified, it would be the largest number of vessels damaged in the waterway in a single day since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28.Brent crude, the international standard, gained 3.2% to $112.27 per barrel. It has been bouncing between $97 and $112 in recent days on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.U.S. benchmark crude rose 2.8% to $99.80 per barrel.In early European trading, Germany's DAX shed 1.1% to 25,367.96, while the CAC 40 in Paris declined 1.3% to 7,816.67. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.7% at 10,678.67.The future for the S&P 500 lost 1% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.7% lower.In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 2.7% to 62,907.84 on heavy selling of big tech companies lik