Russia and Ukraine flashpoint

[SvennoJ]

Surging oil prices are good for Russia :( ffs

Stocks sell off, oil surges in the wake of Israeli strikes

Oil prices have surged more than 9 percent, hitting their highest in almost five months after Israel struck Iran, dramatically escalating tensions in the Middle East and raising worries about disrupted oil supplies.

Brent crude futures jumped $6.29, or 9.07 percent, to $75.65 a barrel by 0315 GMT after hitting an intraday high of $78.50, the highest since January 27. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $6.43, or 9.45 percent, at $74.47 a barrel after hitting a high of $77.62, the loftiest since January 21.

Friday’s gains were the largest intraday moves for both contracts since 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, causing energy prices to spike.

“The question now is whether this is a typical geopolitical knee-jerk reaction from markets, which results in lots of hype with no delivery. Or if the US really is on the brink of navigating a Middle East war”, Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index in Brisbane, Australia, told Reuters news agency.

In other markets, stocks dived in early Asian trade, led by a selloff in US futures, while investors scurried to safe havens such as gold and the Swiss franc.

“The heightened geopolitical risks are being strongly felt in the FX [foreign exchange] market. With the rise in risk-off sentiment, the Japanese yen is likely to be bought”, said Hirofumi Suzuki, chief FX strategist at SMBC in Tokyo.