- Biden-Netanyahu to talk as Hezbollah, Israeli forces clash
- France vows to step up drugs fight after police vehicles torched
- Air France says jet flew over Iraq during Iran attack on Israel
- Activists target Picasso work to protest Israel arms sales
- Let 'Emily in Paris' remain in Paris, Macron says
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
- Time runs out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Chad issues warning ahead of more devastating floods
- Record-breaking Root helps England dominate Pakistan in first Test
- German govt sees economy shrinking again in 2024
- Ex-UK soldier denies passing secrets to Iran intelligence
- Creator's death no bar to new 'Dragon Ball' products
- Three Kosovo Serbs on trial over 'secession plot' attack
- Van Gogh museum to launch Impressionism show
- French minister ups ante in Eiffel Tower Olympic rings row
- Japan PM calls snap election to 'create a new Japan'
- German police shut pro-Palestinian camp over Thunberg invite
- Chinese stocks tumble on lack of fresh stimulus
- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- SE Asian summit urges end to Myanmar violence but struggles for solutions
- Wimbledon replaces line judges with electronic system
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England power to 351-3
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England's power to 351-3
- Sabalenka relishes 'much-needed' tennis rivalry with Swiatek
- Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out
- Taylor Swift got police escort to London gigs after Austria terror plot
- Cook tips Root to break Tendulkar's all-time runs record
- British skull auction sparks Indian demand for return
- Joe Root: England's elegant Test record-breaker
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Hezbollah strikes Israel, says it foiled Israeli incursions
- Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Record-breaking Root guides England to 232-2 in reply to Pakistan's 556
- Japan PM dissolves parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- Goodbye Tito? Tomb at risk as Serbs argue over Yugoslav legacy
- Restoration experts piece together silent Sherlock Holmes mystery
- Sinner avoids Shanghai deja vu with assured Shelton win
- Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
- Trumpet star Marsalis says jazz creates 'balance' in divided world
- No children left on Greece's famed but emptying island
- Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
GSK | -0.03% | 38.01 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.17% | 24.81 | $ | |
SCS | 2.14% | 13.06 | $ | |
NGG | -0.43% | 65.62 | $ | |
BTI | 0.28% | 35.32 | $ | |
AZN | -0.16% | 76.75 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.28% | 24.64 | $ | |
RIO | -1.26% | 65.83 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.01% | 6.9 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.22 | $ | |
BCC | 0.87% | 143.27 | $ | |
BCE | 0.27% | 33.6 | $ | |
RELX | -0.18% | 46.555 | $ | |
BP | -0.69% | 31.81 | $ | |
RBGPF | -2.48% | 59.33 | $ | |
VOD | 0.26% | 9.685 | $ |
Oil prices jump, stocks fall over inflation, Russia concerns
Oil prices surged while stock markets fell on Wednesday on renewed fears over Russian energy supplies and soaring inflation.
Crude futures jumped more than four percent with Brent North Sea, the international benchmark, exceeding $120 per barrel.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak on Wednesday warned that a ban on Russian oil and gas imports over the Ukraine war -- which some EU countries are demanding -- would drive the world's energy markets to a "collapse".
"It is absolutely obvious that without Russian hydrocarbons, if sanctions are introduced, there will be a collapse of the oil and gas markets," Novak told Russia's lower house State Duma as reported by Russian news agencies.
"The rise in energy prices may be unpredictable," Novak added.
President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, hit back at "unfriendly countries" -- which include EU members -- as he announced that Russia will now only accept rubles for gas deliveries.
Russia also warned that repairs at a terminal near a Black Sea port may take up to two months and lead to a drop in oil exports of about one million barrels per day.
Moscow could face more sanctions as US President Joe Biden left Wednesday for Europe on a mission to bolster Western unity against Russia.
- Inflation and war -
On stock markets, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 percent in afternoon trading as British finance minister Rishi Sunak said the UK economy would grow far slower than expected this year due to the Ukraine war and soaring global inflation.
In Frankfurt, the DAX was 1.5 percent lower while the Paris CAC 40 was shedding 1.3 percent.
Wall Street was lower in morning deals.
"The markets continue to contend with the uncertainty regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine, and persistently elevated and broad-based inflation pressures," analysts at Charles Schwab investment firm said in a note.
Sunak launched plans to ease a cost of living crisis, with UK inflation set to spike to a 40-year high on Ukraine fallout.
"Today's data confirm a worsening squeeze on consumer incomes," said Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK.
"These price rises were dominated by increases in energy, and we expect further rises this year as global energy, food, and other commodities markets are impacted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine."
Asian stock markets closed higher after a Wall Street rally the day before.
US shares had risen Tuesday on optimism that the Federal Reserve's plan to hike interest rates would help to bring inflation under control.
While there remains plenty of concern about the war in Ukraine, analysts said some confidence had seeped back into trading floors as investors bet on consumer resilience and economies continue to reopen.
"There is a narrative taking root that the bad news is priced in," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell this week said that the US central bank was prepared to act more aggressively on lifting borrowing costs should American inflation -- already at a 40-year high -- not fall quickly enough.
Officials lifted US rates last week by a quarter of a point but some have advocated bigger increases, a view Powell suggested he was open to believing that the world's biggest economy was strong enough to withstand such a move.
- Key figures around 1400 GMT -
Brent North Sea crude: UP 4.4 percent at $120.57 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.3 percent at $114.01 per barrel
New York - DOW: DOWN 0.8 percent at 34,533.55 points
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,465.69 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.5 percent at 14,253.99 points
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.3 percent at 6,571.19 points
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.7 percent at 3,859.35 points
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 3.0 percent at 28,040.16 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.2 percent at 22,154.08 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,271.03 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0969 from $1.1033 late Tuesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3176 from $1.3260
Euro/pound: UP at 83.23 pence from 83.16 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 120.72 yen from 120.82 yen
P.Costa--AMWN