SINGAPORE: While a minor decline in oil prices on Friday provided some respite to battered global stocks, Asian share markets continued to head for their biggest weekly decline in six years as the Middle East turmoil showed no signs of abating.
News that the US government is considering perhaps intervening in the futures market to curb rising prices caused oil prices, which were on track for their biggest weekly gain since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, to decline.
Nevertheless, they continued to rise by about 20% during the week. At $84.73 a barrel, Brent crude futures were on course for a weekly increase of 17%. US crude’s weekly gain reached over 19 percent as it fell from a 20-month high and ended the day around $80 per barrel.
Global markets were rocked by the US-Israel war on Iran this week, and investors fled to cash as they realized that the battle might go longer than they had first thought. Spooked by the possibility of a rebound in inflation if the jump in oil prices continues, traders also sought to price in more hawkish rate predictions from major central banks. The dollar was on track for its biggest weekly gain in sixteen months, as yields on US Treasury bonds soared almost eighteen basis points this week, their highest in almost a year.
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