New York (AFP) – Stock markets fell Wednesday as oil prices rose sharply and US bond yields jumped on inflation fears, with world leaders at the UN General Assembly offering little to suggest progress in ending turmoil in the Middle East.
After several sessions of falls, the price of North Sea Brent crude rose 3.86 percent to $103.08 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 1.81 percent to reach $92.16 per barrel. The benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.11 percent — its highest level since 2007. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a defiant tone at the UN, vowing Tehran would never “bend at the knee” to the United States as their stalled war drags on. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump had told the UN that he was weighing whether to “annihilate” Iran but went on to hail renewed talks with Tehran.
On Wall Street on Wednesday, the Dow Jones fell 0.68 percent, and the broader S&P 500 slid 0.75 percent while the Nasdaq shed 1.13 percent. The US Federal Reserve lifted borrowing costs last week, providing relief to traders concerned that policymakers were not moving quickly enough to address a spike in inflation. Treasury yields are rising and stocks falling as “there is now the notion that the Fed will continue to hike rates, not one and done,” Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones told AFP. “Part of the reason is also there’s no clear off-ramp in regards to the energy markets; the UN comments today and the headlines coming out of it have not necessarily helped the sentiment around geopolitical risks.”
Hopes for a deal to get Gulf oil and gas flowing freely through the Strait of Hormuz as global leaders gathered in New York had sent oil prices down in recent sessions. John Kilduff of Again Capital told AFP that “we’re taking back some of the enthusiasm from yesterday about the meeting between Iran and the US. There wasn’t necessarily all that much substance to what occurred.” “A sudden spike in the oil price caught investors off guard and reminded them not to be complacent about inflationary pressures,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. The OECD on Wednesday said that global economic growth had been “resilient” in many countries despite the war, as it slightly raised its economic output forecasts for 2026.
European stocks lost ground — Frankfurt closing 0.7 percent down, and Paris losing almost half a percent while London finished flat. Asian indices also pulled back. Earlier in Asian trading, Hong Kong closed down one percent, shrugging off an announcement by Chinese tech giant Alibaba that it would expand its overseas data centers, and Shanghai lost 0.4 percent. South Korea’s tech-rich Kospi and Taiwan’s Taiex index — home to chipmaking titan TSMC — gained nearly one percent.
– Key figures at around 2020 GMT –
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 3.86 percent at $103.08 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.81 percent at $92.16 per barrel
New York – DOW: DOWN 0.68 percent at 51,511 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.75 percent at 7,706 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 1.13 percent at 26,936 (close)
London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 10,705.26 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,123.41 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.7 percent at 25,410.63 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 24,834.12 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,936.52 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: closed for a holiday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1385 from $1.1451 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3242 from $1.3344
Dollar/yen: UP at 158.29 from 157.37
Euro/pound: UP at 85.97 pence from 85.81 pence.
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© 2024 AFP
