Oil Prices Surge, Stock Markets Plummet

0:00On April 2nd, oil prices shot up over 6% to more than $107.60 a barrel for Brent Crude after Donald Trump. Promise in a speech to strike Iran extremely hard in the coming weeks. That Val-Crush Investor hopes for quick de-escalation in the Middle East, sending global stocks tumbling right away. European markets took a hit too, with London's FTSE 100 opening down 0.68%, even as energy giants like BP climbed. Almost 3% and Shell gained 2% from the oil surge. Germany's DAX fell 1.5%, France's CAC 40 dropped 1.35%, and Italy's index slid 1.2%. Meanwhile, UK bond yields climbed, with 10-year guilds hitting 4.886% amid inflation worries from higher energy costs. Market watches like IG's Chief Analyst pointed to fears of long delays and gulf oil supplies, Britain's Trump's words signaled more conflict instead of peace.

1:01Asian stocks got hammered overnight, to PAN's Nikkei down 2.4%, China's index of 1.36% and South Korea's. Cosby plunging 4.8%, the US dollar strengthened nearly half a percent as a safe haven, pushing the pound to $1.32. Consumers are already feeling the squeeze from these swings. The Bank of England warn that 1.3 million more UK homeowners could see mortgage payments rise due to the crisis shocks. Petrol prices jumped a record 20 pence per liter in March, from about 133 pence to 153 pence by months. With markets now pricing in massive oil shortages and economic fallout, this escalation keeps the pressure on, and we'll be watching how energy costs. Ripple through everyday wallets in the days ahead.