Stocks slide as oil soars past $100

AFP | London

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Stock markets slumped as energy prices soaredyesterday as supply disruptions from the Middle East war drove volatility and fanned inflation fears.

Oil prices rocketed above $100 a barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, after Iran retaliated to US-Israeli strikes by targeting sites in crude-producing Gulf nations.

After increasing by around 30% during Asian trading, international benchmark Brent and the main US oil contract WTI both pared gains and slid back under $100 per barrel.

The jump in prices was even more vertiginous than after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when oil touched $130.50 per barrel.

Brentis currently up around 38% from right before the war and up 64% from the start of the year. WTI has climbed 43% since the eve of the war and 67% since the start of the year.

Iranian retaliatory attacks have all but halted maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas pass.

Asian stocks fell sharply as oil prices spiked.

But equities in Europe and on Wall Street cut their losses as oil prices gave up their gains, even as G7 nations held off releasing oil from their strategic reserves.

The Nasdaq Composite even pushed higher in midday trading in New York.