- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
Stocks rise despite jump in oil, metals prices
US and European equity markets rallied Wednesday despite another jump in the price of oil and other commodities, taking solace from Federal Reserve comments suggesting a patient approach to hiking interest rates.
In the first of two congressional hearings, Fed Chair Jerome Powell adopted a moderate tone when it came to the need to balance the fight against inflation with the uncertain economic toll of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"The near-term effects on the US economy of the invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing war, the sanctions, and of events to come, remain highly uncertain," he said in his semi-annual testimony to Congress. "We will be monitoring the situation closely."
Powell's comments came a few hours after major oil exporters declined to increase output more quickly despite the Russian invasion.
The decision by Saudi Arabia, Russia and other top oil exporters lifted crude to multi-year highs, with futures for West Texas Intermediate for delivery in April jumping seven percent to $110.60.
Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB, noted that "the global economy is facing energy starvation right now," while adding that "demand destruction will set a limit to the upside eventually," given the tightening of the physical oil market owing to sanctions towards Russia.
Other commodities also continued to rally, with European natural gas benchmarks hitting all-time highs, along with aluminum prices, amid worries over metals production from Russia.
"Supply outages from Russia are now but a question of time," said a note from Commerzbank. "Depending how long they last, they could cause turmoil on the markets –- in which case metals prices would presumably rise significantly further."
Still, solid gains by European equity bourses were followed by an upbeat US session, which saw the S&P 500 pile on nearly two percent.
"I'm not sure broader market sentiment has improved in any way since yesterday given the intensification of the invasion of Ukraine and soaring oil prices -- but equity markets are seeing some reprieve," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst with Oanda.
In a hearing with House lawmakers, Powell said he favored a modest quarter-point increase in the benchmark borrowing rate rather than a more aggressive, half-point hike for the first step expected at the central bank's meeting later this month.
But, he said, "We will need to be nimble in responding to incoming data and the evolving outlook," and left open the possibility of bigger moves if inflation stays high.
Among individual companies, Ford jumped 8.4 percent as it announced it is creating separate businesses for its conventional and electric-auto operations, as it accelerates its build-out of emission-free vehicles.
- Key figures around 2140 GMT -
Brent North Sea crude: UP 7.6 percent at $112.93 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 7.0 percent at $110.60 per barrel
New York - Dow: UP 1.8 percent at 33,891.35 (close)
New York - S&P 500: UP 1.9 percent at 4,386.54 (close)
New York - Nasdaq: UP 1.6 percent at 13,752.02 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 1.4 percent at 7,429.56 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 14,000.11 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.6 percent at 6,498.02 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.5 percent at 3,820.59 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.7 percent at 26,393.03 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.8 percent at 22,343.92 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,484.19 (close))
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1126 from $1.1125 late Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3405 from $1.3325
Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.95 pence from 83.49 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 115.51 yen from 114.92 yen
burs-jmb/cs
Y.Nakamura--AMWN