Oil prices rise and bonds wobble as Iran war stokes inflation fears

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Oil prices roseate and world bonds wobbled connected Monday, arsenic caller tensions successful nan Middle East fed ostentation fears and bets that cardinal banks will person to summation liking rates.

Brent crude, nan world benchmark for oil, roseate connected Monday, aft an attack connected a atomic powerfulness works successful nan United Arab Emirates.

It came arsenic bid talks betwixt nan US and Iran stalled successful nan sixth week of ceasefire. Donald Trump wrote connected societal media: “For Iran, nan Clock is Ticking, and they amended get moving, FAST, aliases location won’t beryllium thing near of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”.

Brent crude roseate by arsenic overmuch arsenic 1.77% to $111.16 a barrel, its highest level successful astir 2 weeks, early connected Monday. However, it eased backmost to $110 a tube aft Iran said it had responded to a caller US connection aimed astatine ending nan war.

Iran’s overseas ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baqaei, said exchanges were “continuing done nan Pakistani mediator”, without providing details.

Global bonds were choppy, pinch nan benchmark 10-year US Treasury output hitting 4.631%, its highest level since February 2025, earlier paring backmost to 4.599%.

In nan UK, nan 10-year gilt output deed arsenic precocious arsenic 5.19%, surpassing nan 18-year precocious it reached connected Friday, earlier falling backmost to 5.15%.

The volatility successful UK authorities bonds is besides being driven by governmental instability arsenic traders expect that nan premier minister, Keir Starmer, could look a leadership challenge from nan Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, later this year.

The swings successful nan enslaved marketplace came arsenic nan UK chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and different G7 finance ministers gathered successful Paris connected Monday to talk nan economical effect of nan conflict successful nan Middle East.

Mohit Kumar, nan main economist astatine nan agent Jefferies, said enslaved investors were worried astir a “shift to nan left” successful nan UK.

“UK fiscal image has already been successful a mediocre style arsenic nan authorities was incapable to present connected spending cuts,” he said. “A displacement to nan near would connote a further summation successful nationalist spending, moreover though nan authorities does not person nan fiscal room to do so. Tax rises person already reached a shape wherever further rises successful taxes are apt to beryllium be unproductive and improbable to make further revenue.”

However, Burnham tried to calm investor concerns complete nan play that he whitethorn push up spending. “I support nan fiscal rules, location needs to beryllium a scheme to get indebtedness down,” he told ITV.

Kathleen Brooks, nan investigation head astatine nan agent XTB, suggested that UK enslaved yields could shape a betterment this week.

“If enslaved markets deliberation they person tamed Burnham from his high-spending ways, past we could spot UK yields effort a retreat connected Monday,” she said.

“The cardinal trial for UK markets will beryllium whether nan 10-year output tin autumn beneath nan 5% level, and if nan 30-year output is trusting capable of Burnham to backmost distant from 1998- level highs.”

In Japan, enslaved yields roseate – pinch nan 10-year output hitting an almost 30-year precocious to 2.8% connected Monday – arsenic nan authorities prepared to rumor caller indebtedness arsenic portion of a scheme to cushion nan economical rustle from warfare successful nan Middle East.

Stock markets opened little successful Europe connected Monday, pinch nan Stoxx Europe 600 – which tracks nan biggest companies listed connected nan continent – dropping by 0.7%. The UK’s blue-chip FTSE 100 banal scale was broadly flat.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei dropped by astir 1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng scale besides fell 1%, while Shanghai’s SSE Composite slipped 0.1%. South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.3% higher.

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Source theguardian.com
theguardian.com