- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- McLaren's Norris sets Singapore pace as struggling Verstappen 15th
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- 8 dead in Israeli strike, source says Hezbollah commander killed
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
- Top Hezbollah commander 'killed' in Israel strike
- Poland charges Russian over attack on Navalny ally: prosecutors
- Man City have rest 'advantage' in Arsenal showdown: Guardiola
- Maresca has 'no doubt' in Jackson as Chelsea's number nine
- EU chief announces 35 bn euro loan plan for Ukraine before winter
- From TikTok to Hollywood, the irresistible rise of Italy's Khaby Lame
- Verstappen punished for swearing in Singapore press conference
- Sri Lanka lead by 202 in first New Zealand Test
- Brook 'not too fussed' by England's batting in heavy Australia loss
- India's Ashwin 'happy' to embrace pressure
- A modern 'Trojan Horse': two days of mayhem in Lebanon
- Third of Burundi mpox cases in children under five: UN
- Man Utd appoint Foster + Partners to develop Old Trafford 'masterplan'
- Israel-Hezbollah exchanges intensify on Lebanon border
- French mayor sorry for 'no one died' remark over mass rape trial
- Mohamed Al-Fayed, outsider shunned by British high society
- Lawyers say 'monster' late Harrods owner abused dozens of women
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.04% | 25.13 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.16% | 25.05 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0% | 6.95 | $ | |
BCC | -2.61% | 141.01 | $ | |
NGG | 1.18% | 69.65 | $ | |
RIO | -2.44% | 63.625 | $ | |
RELX | -0.36% | 47.955 | $ | |
JRI | -0.56% | 13.325 | $ | |
SCS | -3.46% | 12.865 | $ | |
VOD | -0.6% | 10 | $ | |
GSK | -1.97% | 40.815 | $ | |
AZN | -0.73% | 78.325 | $ | |
BCE | -0.85% | 34.895 | $ | |
BTI | -0.39% | 37.425 | $ | |
BP | -0.26% | 32.675 | $ |
Oil prices plunge on China lockdowns, stock markets slide
Oil prices plunged more than eight percent Tuesday on lower demand expectations with nearly 30 million people under Covid lockdown in key consumer China.
Crude futures slumped under $100 per barrel just a week after benchmark contract Brent North Sea soared to a 14-year high close to $140 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"The downside correction in oil prices is sure a relief when it comes to the inflation expectations, but the new lockdown measures will continue worsening the supply chain crisis and add on the inflation worries," noted Swissquote Bank senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
Equity markets also slumped Tuesday, with tech firms leading the collapse following the Covid shutdown of China's tech hub Shenzhen.
"The (stock market) negativity has spread beyond China's borders with chip makers in Europe taking a hit," noted Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.
Global stock markets have been in a spiral since Russian troops marched into Ukraine, leading international powers to impose crippling sanctions on the country and numerous companies to pull out.
The UK government on Tuesday imposed an additional 35-percent import tariff on a swathe of Russian goods, including vodka, and banned exports of luxury products.
"We want to cause maximum harm to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war machine while minimising the impact on UK businesses," the Department for International Trade said.
A series of powerful explosions Tuesday rocked residential districts of Kyiv, killing two people, just hours before talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume.
"This double whammy of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, with the fresh chaos caused by Covid in China is rattling nerves," said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Among the hardest-hit stock markets in recent days has been Hong Kong, which was already under pressure from China's regulatory crackdown on technology firms as part of the government's move to tighten its grip on the economy.
News that US authorities were also looking to crack the whip over Chinese firms listed in New York added to the selling pressure.
"In the short term we think overall Chinese equities will continue to face selling pressure. Longer term, the strong will survive and likely get stronger, bigger," predicted Sharif Farha at Safehouse Capital.
Hong Kong's main stocks index, the Hang Seng, dived more than six percent at one point Tuesday.
Afternoon selling wiped out a minor bounce from data out of China suggesting its economy started 2022 on a positive note.
- Key figures around 1130 GMT -
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 8.2 percent at $94.52 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 8.1 percent at $98.27
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,127.72 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.0 percent at 13,794.75
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.0 percent at 6,305.67
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.0 percent at 3,704.36
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 5.7 percent at 18,415.08 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 25,346.48 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 5.0 percent at 3,063.97 (close)
New York - Dow: FLAT at 32,945.24 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0986 from $1.0949 late Monday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3056 from $1.3003
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.15 pence from 84.18 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 118.02 yen from 118.19 yen
burs-bcp/rfj/kjm
N.Fournier--BTB