Oil climbs, stocks hold steady in volatile week

LONDON: Oil prices rose and stock markets were flat to slightly higher on Friday at the end of a week of high volatility linked to the war in Ukraine, traders said.

After trading in negative territory for most of the day, European stock markets rose at the close, dismissing concerns about aggressive monetary tightening by various central banks around the world, skyrocketing inflation and soaring commodity prices. raw.

Across the Atlantic, Wall Street was also stable. OANDA analyst Craig Erlam suggested that “an unhealthy amount of complacency could creep into the markets.”

“The rebound we’ve seen over the past two weeks has been nothing short of extraordinary,” Erlam said.

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other major global lenders, for their part, have warned of the “widespread” economic fallout from the war in Ukraine and expressed “horror” at the “devastating human catastrophe”. “.

Warning that the world could face the “biggest oil supply shock in decades”, the International Energy Agency has called on governments to urgently implement measures to reduce global consumption of crude oil. within a few months.

The IEA also urged Opec+, the group of oil producers led by Russia and Saudi Arabia, to act to “relieve pressure” on markets when they meet next.

Uncertainty surrounding Ukraine and reports that some lockdown measures in China’s tech hub of Shenzhen have helped push oil prices back above $100 a barrel.

Posted in Dawn, March 19, 2022