Oil strikes 4-year peak, stocks rise

AFP | London

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Oil prices struck a four-year high on Thursday on worries over a resumption of hostilities in the Middle East, while US and European stock markets mostly rose as investors turned to central bank decisions and corporate earnings.

International benchmark Brent crude soared more than seven percent to $126 a barrel, but then eased and turned lower.

Central banks remained a focus on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged as the United States faces elevated inflation triggered by the war.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England also both held rates steady.

But the ECB warned risks to the eurozone growth and inflation outlook have “intensified” because of the war in the Middle East and its impact on global energy supplies.

Data released Thursday showed that growth in the eurozone economy slid to 0.1 percent in the first quarter. In the United States, it rebounded by a less-than-expected annual rate of two percent as consumer spending cooled and effects of the Middle East war began to ripple through the global economy.

Meanwhile the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure jumped 3.5 percent in March as energy costs surged on the back of the war.