Global Markets Open Lower as S&P 500 Falls 1.24% on Oil-Driven Inflation Fears
Updated
Updated · MarketForces Africa · May 19
Global Markets Open Lower as S&P 500 Falls 1.24% on Oil-Driven Inflation Fears
30 articles · Updated · MarketForces Africa · May 19
Asian equities started the week in the red after Wall Street’s Friday selloff, with the Hang Seng down 1.35%, the Nikkei off 0.63% and Australia’s ASX 200 lower by 1.36%.
U.S. stocks set the negative tone as the S&P 500 fell 1.24%, the Dow lost 1.07% and the Nasdaq dropped 1.54% amid fragile U.S.-Iran talks and concern that higher crude prices will reignite inflation.
Those worries spread to South Africa on Friday, where the All Share Index fell 2.40% and the Top 40 lost 2.59%, led by a 6.13% plunge in resource shares.
Oil has become the key pressure point as Middle East tensions and fears around Strait of Hormuz disruption push crude above $108 a barrel, darkening the global inflation outlook.
Beyond military threats, what diplomatic leverage can reopen the world's most critical oil artery without major US concessions?
With China paying Iran's new tolls, is the US dollar's dominance in the global oil trade facing its greatest challenge?
As global oil inventories plummet, how close are we to a worldwide industrial shutdown triggered by the Hormuz crisis?