Oil on observe for greatest weekly acquire in over a 12 months as Israel strikes Beirut – newest updates
Thanks for joining me. Oil prices are on course for their biggest weekly gains in more than a year as Israel launched a massive missile strike on Beirut.
The conflict in the Middle East – and concerns that it could impact supplies – have sent the price of a barrel of oil surging this week from $70 a barrel to more than $77.
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What happened overnight
Asian stocks rose while oil prices were headed for their sharpest weekly gain in more than a year, as escalating tensions in the Middle East kept markets on edge.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 2.2pc to 22,600.62 amid continuing optimism over China’s massive stimulus measures.
The Hang Seng Index is heading for a weekly gain of more than 9pc and is up 22pc since September 24, when Beijing kicked off rate cuts.
It is now up roughly 32pc for the year, and has dethroned Taiwan to become Asia’s best-performing stock market.
In Japan, the Nikkei rose 0.3pc, but was set for a weekly loss of about 3pc.
Japanese stocks have had a choppy few sessions this week as investors weighed rising geopolitical tensions against the domestic rate outlook.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4pc, to 42,011.59, the S&P 500 lost 0.2pc, to 5,699.96, and the Nasdaq Composite was broadly flat, closing at 17,918.48.
In the bond market, the yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes rose to 3.85pc from 3.80pc late on Wednesday.
