Skip to main content

British rate hike hint boosts sterling, Iraq unrest drives up oil

Escalating violence in class="mandelbrot_refrag">Iraq drove oil higher and sent class="mandelbrot_refrag">stocks lower on Friday, putting a global equity index on track for its first weekly loss in five weeks.

Wall Street was little changed, but U.S. averages were set for their first loss in four weeks, while European shares .FTEU3 were set to interrupt eight weeks of gains. The MSCI All World Index fell 0.2 percent and is down 0.5 percent for the week.

Despite the decline in riskier assets, benchmark U.S. bond prices fell, pushing yields slightly higher. Sterling surged on Friday after the Bank of England hinted at an interest rate rise this year.

 
 
 

Financial class="mandelbrot_refrag">markets' focus was on the violence in class="mandelbrot_refrag">Iraq where Sunni Islamist militants have surged out of the north this week to menace Baghdad and want to establish their own state in Iraq and Syria. President class="mandelbrot_refrag">Barack Obama on Thursday threatened U.S. military strikes in Iraq against the insurgents.

"The market was looking for an excuse to take profits after a rally to new highs and tensions in Iraq gave investors an opportunity to trim their positions," said Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global class="mandelbrot_refrag">Markets in Brussels.

Oil rose, with Brent crude at one point touching a nine-month high of $114.69. It was last up just a few cents to $113.05. class="mandelbrot_refrag">U.S. crude CLc1 touched an intraday high of $107.68 before pulling back, up 19 cents to $106.71. The benchmark is up about 4 percent this week.

"There was a big market reaction and then the IEA (International Energy Agency) said it did not see a risk to supplies so the volatility is reflecting this," said Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix consultancy.

The IEA played down fears over the possible sudden loss of oil exports from Iraq in its monthly oil market report.

The S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.59 points or 0.08 percent, to 1,931.7 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 10.38 points or 0.24 percent, to 4,308.01.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said late Thursday British interest rates could rise sooner than markets expect. Markets had previously been expecting a rate hike in the first quarter of 2015, and the FTSE 100 was down nearly 1 percent.

It would make the BoE the first of the four major central banks to raise interest rates. Sterling GBP=D4 neared a five-year high against the dollar at $1.6951 on Carney's comments and hit a 1-1/2 year high of 1.2525 euros. The gap between 2-year UK and German yields ballooned to its widest in four years.

(Additional reporting by Anirban Nag, Julia Payne and Christopher Johnson; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Popular posts from this blog

Study Abroad USA, College of Charleston, Popular Courses, Alumni

Thinking for Study Abroad USA. School of Charleston, the wonderful grounds is situated in the actual middle of a verifiable city - Charleston. Get snatched up by the wonderful and customary engineering, beautiful pathways, or look at the advanced steel and glass building which houses the School of Business. The grounds additionally gives students simple admittance to a few major tech organizations like Amazon's CreateSpace, Google, TwitPic, and so on. The school offers students nearby as well as off-grounds convenience going from completely outfitted home lobbies to memorable homes. It is prepared to offer different types of assistance and facilities like clubs, associations, sporting exercises, support administrations, etc. To put it plainly, the school grounds is rising with energy and there will never be a dull second for students at the College of Charleston. Concentrate on Abroad USA is improving and remunerating for your future. The energetic grounds likewise houses various

Best MBA Online Colleges in the USA

“Opportunities never open, instead we create them for us”. Beginning with this amazing saying, let’s unbox today’s knowledge. Love Business and marketing? Want to make a high-paid career in business administration? Well, if yes, then mate, we have got you something amazing to do!   We all imagine an effortless future with a cozy house and a laptop. Well, well! You can make this happen. Today, with this guide, we will be exploring some of the top-notch online MBA universities and institutes in the USA. Let’s get started! Why learn Online MBA from the USA? Access to More Options This online era has given a second chance to children who want to reflect on their careers while managing their hectic schedules. In this, the internet has played a very crucial in rejuvenating schools, institutes, and colleges to give the best education to students across the globe. Graduating with Less Debt Regular classes from high reputed institutes often charge heavy tuition fees. However onl

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick.  Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o