LONDON (Archyde.com) – Oil prices reversed losses on Wednesday, as investors evaluated conflicting statements regarding a possible withdrawal of some Russian troops from Ukraine’s borders amid global supply shortages and rebounding fuel demand.
Brent crude was trading at $93.86 a barrel at 10.00 GMT, up 62 cents, or 0.6 percent, following falling 3.3 percent last night, following Russia announced a partial withdrawal of its forces from near Ukraine.
US West Texas Intermediate crude recorded $92.64 a barrel, up 62 cents, or 0.6 percent, following closing on Tuesday, down 3.6 percent.
The two crudes reached their highest levels since September 2014 on Monday, with Brent touching $96.78 a barrel and WTI $95.82 a barrel.
The price of Brent crude jumped 50 percent and US crude 60 percent in 2021, as the recovery of global demand from the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic pressured supply.
Tag:
Russia and Ukraine
Russia still likely to attack, face: Biden; Cyber Attack in Ukraine | Joe Biden | Russia Ukraine Conflict
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
Washington: US President Joe Biden has warned that Russia might still invade Ukraine. Biden did not confirm Russia’s claim that the army had withdrawn. Biden’s remarks came hours following Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that a group of troops had been withdrawn from the Ukrainian border.
Putin has said he is ready to hold talks with US and NATO representatives to boost mutual trust. However he acknowledged that their numbers were not enough to defeat Russia’s ambitions. Biden said the United States has not upheld the Russian people and has no plans to destabilize Russia.
Neither the US nor NATO countries have missiles in Ukraine. There are no plans to send missiles. Ukraine is not a threat to Russia. Biden said the world will not forget that Russia chose to inflict unnecessary death and destruction if Russia invaded Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Putin has indicated that he will not take any immediate military action once morest Ukraine. He also said that the military deployment on the Ukrainian border has been partially withdrawn. NATO has said it is not saying the conflict has eased.
But in the wake of the cyber attack in Ukraine, the websites of the Ukrainian military, defense ministry and banks went offline. Foreign Ministry and Culture Ministry sites were also down.
English Summary :US President Joe Biden says Russian attack on Ukraine still ‘very much a possibility’, warns Moscow once morest invasion
Global stock exchanges are tumbling, and bank stocks are the most affected
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
Paris (AFP) – Global financial markets tumbled today, Monday, on the impact of fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At the beginning of trading, around 09:00 GMT, European markets recorded strong declines, as losses reached 3.68% in Milan, 3.51% in Paris and 3.28% in Frankfurt, the lowest level since October, and 1.91% in London .
The decline was most severe in the Moscow Stock Exchange; The RTS index lost 4.29% of its value.
Before the opening of the European stock exchanges, the Asian markets started this declining trend, as losses in the Tokyo Stock Exchange amounted to 2.23%, while the decline was less severe in the Chinese financial markets; The Hong Kong Stock Exchange fell 1.41%, and Shanghai 0.98%.
geopolitical situation
And investors began to worry regarding the current geopolitical situation since Friday, with the issuance of the first US statements warning of an “imminent” Russian invasion of Ukraine. These warnings turned the situation on Wall Street from green to red before the end of the trading session, and the Dow Jones index closed down by a percentage 1.43% The Nasdaq fell 2.78%, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.90%. On Sunday, Washington renewed its warnings that Russia might invade Ukraine “at any time”, and intense diplomatic efforts over the weekend between Western leaders and the Kremlin failed to lower the level of tension.
safe haven
“The market is mindful of prices as the risk of war,” said Yoshin Stanzel, an analyst at CMC Markets. He added, “Even if markets are still hopeful that a last-minute diplomatic breakthrough on Ukraine can be achieved, many investors are finding themselves forced to sell shares due to the heightened geopolitical risks.”
Unlike stocks, the fear of armed conflict is causing investors to turn to assets they consider safer, such as government bonds.
With this in mind, the German 10-year government bond yield, the benchmark in Europe, fell from 0.30% to 0.20% at the close of the trading session on Friday. On the other hand, oil prices jumped to their highest level in seven years.
“All eyes are on the price of oil, which in the short term might reach the $100 threshold, an increase that would further affect the rise in inflation,” said Vincent Pouille, an analyst at the brokerage firm IG France.
Tensions on the border between Ukraine and Russia are at their highest, as Moscow, which has mobilized 130,000 Russian soldiers on the Ukrainian border, is carrying out large-scale maneuvers with live ammunition.
It is expected that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will continue his diplomatic efforts in Kiev to contain the escalation on the ground and reduce the risk of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Bank shares
And if the losses included all sectors of the capital markets, the shares of banks were the most affected. “BNP Paribas” 5.19% of its value, stable at 61.50 euros.
In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank shares fell 5.71% to 13.58 euros, while Unicredit fell 5.72% to 14.80 euros.
Transportation and Aviation
In turn, the shares of car companies incurred heavy losses, as do the shares of the entire industrial sector, as these shares are strongly affected by any expected change in economic activity. BMW increased by 4.12% to 91.37 euros on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
In turn, airline shares were hit hard by the current fears, as Air France-KLM Group slumped 8.12 percent to 4.04 euros, while the share price of tourism giant TUI plunged 6.43% to 267.90 pence on the London Stock Exchange.
Oil, Euro and Bitcoin
Oil prices continued to rise today, following jumping more than 3% on Friday. At around 09:55 GMT, the price of a barrel of Brent crude for April delivery fell by only 0.22% to $ 94.23, while the price of West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery remained stable at $ 93.08. For its part, the single European currency lost 0.34% of its value once morest the dollar. Its price was 1.1312 dollars per euro.
Bitcoin also fell; It lost 0.31% of its value and the unit price was $42,100.
LONDON (Archyde.com) – Oil prices stabilized on Monday in volatile trading following hitting their highest levels in more than seven years on fears that a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine might lead to US and European sanctions that would disrupt exports from one of the world’s largest producers.
Brent crude was down 11 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $94.33 a barrel by 0910 GMT, following hitting a peak of $96.16 earlier, its highest since October 2014.
US West Texas Intermediate crude rose one cent, or less than 0.1%, to $ 93.11 a barrel, hovering near its highest level during the session at $ 94.94, which is also the best since September 2014.
Statements from the United States regarding an imminent attack by Russia on Ukraine raised tensions in global financial markets.
Washington said yesterday that Russia might invade Ukraine at any time and might create a pretext for an attack.
“If … there is a movement of forces, Brent crude will easily rise above $100 a barrel,” said Edward Moya, market analyst at OANDA, in a note.
“Oil prices will remain highly volatile and vulnerable to rapid developments regarding the situation in Ukraine,” he added.
The state of tension comes at a time when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC Plus, are facing difficulties to increase production despite monthly pledges to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day until March.
Investors are also watching ongoing talks between the United States and Iran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that the talks had not reached a dead end, although a senior Iranian security official said earlier that progress in the talks had become “more difficult”.