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Crude oil prices and safe havens surged Monday while the ruble and European equities sank after world powers imposed fresh sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, fanning fears about a possible global energy crisis that could further stoke inflation.
Brent crude again topped $100 per barrel and Europe’s reference Dutch TTF natural gas price surged more than a third to 128 euros per megawatt hour, as traders fretted over Russian energy supplies, reports AFP.
West Texas Intermediate crude surged more than 6% and Brent jumped more than 5%.
WTI rose 6.27% to $97.33, while Brent crude was up 5.24% at $103.06.
The news, alongside sharp gains for aluminium, nickel and wheat, sparked renewed concern over rampant inflation.
Traders will be closely watching a meeting this week of OPEC and other major producers led by Russia, where they will discuss plans for further output.
The group has agreed previously to increase production gradually each month, but the Ukraine crisis could throw those plans into disarray.
Meanwhile, there is still apparently no sign of oil prices hiking in Bangladesh.
An attendant of Khaleque Petrol Pump, one of the capital’s busiest fuel stations located at Kallyanpur area, said that they did not receive any insider information of price hikes yet, despite increases in global markets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops across the border last week has sent shivers through trading floors as investors fret over a protracted war in the resource-rich region.
Adding to the unease among investors was news that Putin had put his nuclear forces on a higher alert in reaction to the latest stiff measures.
Equities rallied Friday and oil dipped as dealers assessed that the punishments imposed on Moscow were light enough to not hit its crucial oil exports — Russia is the world’s third-biggest producer — at a time when supplies are thin and demand is surging.
But the picture was changed over the weekend, when the United States and European Union said they would exclude some Russian banks from the international bank payments system SWIFT and personally targeted Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
They also banned all transactions with Russia’s central bank, sending the ruble crashing, with Bloomberg saying it was indicated to be nearly 30 percent down in offshore trading Monday. News that the central bank had hiked interest rates to 20 percent — the highest since 2003 — helped pared the unit’s losses only briefly.
“Removing some Russian banks from SWIFT could result in a disruption of oil supplies as buyers and sellers try to figure out how to navigate the new rules,” Andy Lipow, of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, noted.
Other commodities rallied, with wheat, aluminium and nickel also sharply higher.
European stocks opened sharply lower, with London off more than one percent while Frankfurt and Paris gave up about two percent.
However, most Asian equity markets recovered from morning selling as traders focus on a planned meeting of Ukraine and Russian officials on the border with Belarus hoping for an easing of the offensive.
Traders will be closely watching a meeting this week of OPEC and other major producers led by Russia, where they will discuss plans for further output.
The group had agreed previously to increase production gradually each month, but the Ukraine crisis could throw those plans into disarray.
Gold and the yen, go-to assets in times of uncertainty, rose, while the dollar was up against all other currencies.
The euro was under pressure owing to Europe’s reliance on Russian energy.
The surge in prices is adding to worries about inflation, which is running at a 40-year high in the United States, with central banks already fighting an uphill battle to get it under control.
The conflict is “likely to boost energy prices significantly, resulting in immediate inflationary effects and a large drag on global growth,” Silvia Dall’Angelo, senior economist at Federated Hermes, wrote in a note.
“It’s fair to say that the crisis increases the room for central banks’ policy mistakes.”
(DT)
