Oil prices continue to rise Monday, similar to gold, which briefly crossed the two thousand dollars per ounce threshold, while Asian stock exchanges fell, due to the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the global economy.
Aluminum and copper set new records, with a ton of aluminum exceeding the threshold of 4,000 dollars, while a ton of copper recorded 10,845 dollars.
The price of a barrel of Brent North Sea crude approached $140 on Sunday at around 23:00 GMT, and fell below its record level of 147.50 recorded in July 2008.
After that, oil prices fell before they developed wildly. After 0620 GMT, the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate jumped by 9.04 percent, to $ 126.14, and a barrel of Brent rose 10.12 percent, to $130.06.
Faced with the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine, the imposition of direct sanctions on Russian hydrocarbon exports is no longer a non-negotiable issue.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Sunday that the United States and the European Union were discussing “intensively” the possibility of banning imports of Russian oil.
However, the Europeans adopt a more cautious attitude, as many countries in Europe, such as Germany, depend closely on oil and gas and the Russians.
Although Russian oil is not currently subject to direct sanctions, in theory, almost no one can buy it, which greatly affects global supply.
Investors went to buy gold, which is a safe haven par excellence, of which the price of an ounce exceeded the threshold of two thousand dollars in the Asian markets on Monday morning for the first time since August 2020. The price of an ounce returned to approximately 1983 dollars around 0640 GMT.
On the other hand, shares recorded a decline, and the main Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed down 2.94% at 25,221.41 points, its lowest level since November 2020.
All sectors included in the Nikkei index, except for energy, collapsed.
As for the losses in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, they were worse, with the Hang Seng index falling 3.5 percent at around 0630 GMT. In mainland China, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges fell more than 2%.
In the exchange market, the euro fell significantly against the dollar, recording 1,0880 around 06:30 GMT, compared to 1,0928 Friday.
The euro also fell against the yen, recording 125.08 yen per euro. Friday’s record was 125.48 yen.
The dollar’s exchange rate improved against the yen, and the US currency reached 114.96 yen, compared to 114.82 yen at the end of last week.