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The Western embargo on Russian oil led to a sharp rise in crude prices again yesterday, and a slump in global stock markets, which feared a recession in the global economy.

On Sunday evening, the price of a barrel of Brent North Sea crude fell to $ 140, well below its record low of 147.50, recorded in July 2008.

European stock markets fell sharply again yesterday, after falling 4 to 6% last Friday. During trading, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange fell 4.48%, Paris 4.25% and Milan 5.28%, while the London Stock Exchange fell 2.42%, the most flexible since the beginning of the crisis.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 2.94% to its lowest level since November 2020, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 2.17%. In Hong Kong the 3.87% losses are the worst.

The performance of key US stock indices was initially mixed, and concerns were heightened by a sharp rise in inflation and a slowdown in economic growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened the trading session at Wall Street, down 0.10% at 33579.75 points, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 0.04% at 4,327.01 points.

In contrast, as a precedent since August 2020, as the price of an ounce of gold briefly crossed $ 2000, investors moved to safer havens, and the dollar rose 0.66% against the euro. During trading, West Texas Intermediate was up 7.45 percent at $ 124.29 a barrel and Brent North Sea was up 7.86% at $ 127.41.

Gas prices also rose significantly, with European prices rising by 60% to more than 300 euros per megawatt-hour.

The International Monetary Fund warned last Saturday that the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine could have “catastrophic” economic consequences on a global scale.

Metal prices continued to rise as aluminum crossed $ 4,000 per tonne for the first time and copper reached a new all-time high of $ 10,845 per tonne.

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