Crude oil prices fell Wednesday, while gold and a measure of nervousness among stock investors on Wall Street also eased. A barrel of US crude oil dropped 5.5 per cent to $US116.94. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 6.2 per cent to $US120.04.

European stocks rallied even more than the US market. Germany’s DAX jumped 7.9 per cent and France’s CAC 40 rose 7.1 per cent. Asian markets mostly fell, though. Stocks in Shanghai dropped 1.1 per cent after China’s government reported that consumer price inflation accelerated in February.

On Wall Street, the gains were broad-based. Some of the strongest moves came from airlines, travel companies and other stocks that bounced back from steep drops on worries about fuel costs and the economy.

United Airlines rose 8.3 per cent, though it’s still down nearly 20 per cent for the year so far. Cruise operator Carnival steamed 8.8 per cent higher, and Booking Holdings rose 7.2 per cent.

Among Wednesday’s few decliners were oil-related companies, which lost momentum following big leaps this year on the back of rising crude prices. Halliburton fell 5.2 per cent, though it’s still up roughly 53 per cent for 2022.

Such swings have been particularly wide in markets for commodities because Russia is the No. 2 oil exporter and the No. 3 supplier of nickel, which is used in electric car batteries, stainless steel and other products. Russia and Ukraine also are among the biggest global sellers of wheat.

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Less than a week after removing from Russia its list of nations deemed a safe place to invest, Fitch cut its credit rating on the nation further into junk status and warned of an imminent default on sovereign debt.

Treasury yields climbed as an anticipated increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve nears. The Fed’s policy-making committee is meeting next week, and the wide expectation is that it will vote to raise its benchmark short-term rate by a quarter of a percentage point. It would be the first such increase since 2018.

The Fed is facing a delicate and increasingly tough task as it moves to raise rates through 2022, which tends to slow the economy. The central bank wants to pull rates high enough to push down inflation, which is at its highest level in generations. But it doesn’t want to raise them so much that it causes a recession.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.92 per cent from 1.86 per cent late Tuesday.

The value of Bitcoin rallied more than 9 per cent and was back above $US42,000 after Biden signed an executive order on government oversight of cryptocurrency. Crypto players have increasingly been saying they welcome increased regulation, and they want to have a hand in shaping it.

AP

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