
-
Kenya's economy faces climate change risks: World Bank
-
US job growth strong in March but Trump tariff impact still to come
-
Stocks, oil slump as China retaliates and Trump digs in heels
-
US hiring beats expectations in March as tariff uncertainty brews
-
Where things stand in the US-China trade war
-
UK spy agency MI5 reveals fruity secrets in new show
-
Taiwan earmarks $2.7 bn to help industries hit by US tariffs
-
Greece nixes Acropolis shoot for 'Poor Things' director
-
Trump unveils first $5 million 'gold card' visa
-
BP chairman to step down after energy strategy reset
-
Indian patriotic movie 'icon' Manoj Kumar dies aged 87
-
Pacific nations perplexed, worried by Trump tariffs
-
Prominent US academic facing royal insult charge in Thailand
-
Yana, a 130,000-year-old baby mammoth, goes under the scalpel
-
Crops under threat as surprise March heatwave hits Central Asia: study
-
Japan PM says Trump tariffs a 'national crisis'
-
'It's gone': conservation science in Thailand's burning forest
-
EU leaders push for influence at Central Asia summit
-
Asian stocks extend global rout after Trump's shock tariff blitz
-
German industry grapples with AI at trade fair
-
Where Trump's tariffs could hurt Americans' wallets
-
Trump tariffs on Mexico: the good, the bad, the unknown
-
With tariff war, Trump also reshapes how US treats allies
-
Penguin memes take flight after Trump tariffs remote island
-
Tom Cruise pays tribute to Val Kilmer
-
'Everyone worried' by Trump tariffs in France's champagne region
-
UK avoids worst US tariffs post-Brexit, but no celebrations
-
Canada imposing 25% tariff on some US auto imports
-
Lesotho, Africa's 'kingdom in the sky' jolted by Trump
-
Trump's trade math baffles economists
-
Macron calls for suspension of investment in US until tariffs clarified
-
Trump tariffs hammer global stocks, dollar and oil
-
Mexico president welcomes being left off Trump's new tariffs list
-
Lesotho hardest hit as new US tariffs rattle Africa
-
Stellantis pausing some Canada, Mexico production over Trump auto tariffs
-
Rising odds asteroid that briefly threatened Earth will hit Moon
-
Is the Switch 2 worth the price? Reviews are mixed
-
Countries eye trade talks as Trump tariff blitz roils markets
-
AI could impact 40 percent of jobs worldwide: UN
-
US trade partners eye talks after Trump tariff blitz
-
Dollar, stocks sink as gold hits high on Trump tariffs
-
Trump tariff blitz sparks retaliation threats, economic fears
-
Lessons and liquids: buried alive in Myanmar's earthquake
-
Nintendo Switch 2 sparks excitement despite high price
-
Sri Lanka's crackdown on dogs for India PM's visit sparks protest
-
China vows 'countermeasures' to sweeping new US tariffs
-
Trump jolts allies, foes and markets with tariff blitz
-
How Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs will impact China
-
Europe hits out at Trump tariffs, keeps door open for talks
-
Australia sweats through hottest 12 months on record: official data
NGG | -2.25% | 67.86 | $ | |
SCS | -3.27% | 10.4 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.89% | 22.47 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.61% | 22.126 | $ | |
BCC | -4.21% | 90.81 | $ | |
RELX | -3.84% | 49.54 | $ | |
BCE | 0.81% | 22.845 | $ | |
RIO | -7.17% | 54.52 | $ | |
RBGPF | 1.48% | 69.02 | $ | |
RYCEF | -13.29% | 8.65 | $ | |
VOD | -6.96% | 8.76 | $ | |
JRI | -4.91% | 12.22 | $ | |
GSK | -5.38% | 37.02 | $ | |
BTI | -3.3% | 40.58 | $ | |
AZN | -5.27% | 70.22 | $ | |
BP | -9.96% | 28.5 | $ |

Oil, gas hit records on Ukraine conflict
Oil prices soared Wednesday above $113 per barrel and natural gas hit a record peak before edging off their peaks, as investors fretted over key producer Russia's intensifying assault on Ukraine.
European benchmark Brent North Sea oil struck $113.94 per barrel, the highest level since 2014, while New York-traded WTI hit a nine-year high of $112.51 as both posted day rises of almost 8 percent before dropping back to gains of nearer 4 percent.
Gas prices also raced ahead, with European reference Dutch TTF hitting 194.715 euros per megawatt hour, an all-time high, before settling back to 168.77 euros, still up by a third.
British gas prices jumped as high as 463.84 pence per therm, close to the record 470.83 pence struck in December, on fresh fears of supply disruption.
Aluminium also spiralled upwards to hit a record high of $3,597 a tonne after Russia, a major producer of the industrial lightweight metal, launched a huge military assault on its neighbour.
As energy prices enjoyed a conflict-driven sugar rush, global equities also marched boldly into the green with Wall Street up 1.7 percent two hours into the session and major European markets closing with similarly solid gains.
- 'Some reprieve' -
"I'm not sure broader market sentiment has improved in any way since yesterday given the intensification of the invasion of Ukraine and soaring oil prices -- but equity markets are seeing some reprieve," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst with Oanda, even if there remained a "gulf" between the positions of Kyiv and Moscow.
Despite the growing fears of how much damage prolonged price rises can wreak on world economies already worrying over the telltale signs of runaway inflation, Saudi Arabia, Russia and other top oil producers meanwhile agreed only to a gradual opening of the taps.
At their meeting in Vienna, the 23 OPEC+ members decided merely to "reconfirm the production adjustment plan... to adjust upward the monthly overall production by 0.4 million barrels per day for the month of April."
Analysts sought to paint a wider picture as the Ukraine crisis showed no sign of ending.
"It is far too soon to say how this will end. The range of possible outcomes remains huge. We may be in the early days of a long process of restructuring the global order," said Neil Shearing, group chief economist with Capital Economics.
Predicting the conflict could hit the Russian economy to the extent it falls from being the world’s 11th largest economy to 14th, he added that "tells us little about how the conflict might affect the global economy over the long run".
But he said it would most likely concentrate governments' minds on the need to upgrade energy security and, at least in Europe, accelerate their transition away from fossil fuels.
Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB, noted that "the global economy is facing energy starvation right now," while adding that "demand destruction will set a limit to the upside eventually," given the tightening of the physical oil market owing to sanctions towards Russia.
US President Joe Biden had earlier in the week said that the United States would join a 30-country deal to release 60 million oil barrels to help temper the surge in crude prices, though analysts have warned such moves would have a limited impact.
- Key figures around 1700 GMT -
Brent North Sea crude: UP 4.5 percent at $109.72 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.1 percent at $107.64 per barrel
New York - Dow: UP 1.6 percent at 33,871.65 points
London - FTSE 100: UP 1.4 percent at 7,429.56 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 14,000.11 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.6 percent at 6,498.02 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.7 percent at 3,831.39
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.7 percent at 26,393.03 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.8 percent at 22,343.92 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,484.19 (close))
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1110 from $1.1125 late Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3337 from $1.3325
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.15 pence from 83.49 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 115.56 yen from 114.92 yen
burs-rfj/cdw/lc
H.Meyer--CPN