Bloomberg News Oil rose to its highest level since September 2008 and gold rallied for a sixth day, surpassing $1,400 an ounce, as tension in the Middle East escalated. Stocks fell the most in a month as Eni SpA led companies with operations in Libya lower.
Brent crude gained 5.6 percent to $108.30 in afternoon trading in New York. Gold climbed 1.2 percent and silver added 3.8 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 1.3 percent, with Eni sinking the most since July 2009. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.9 percent. Bahrain’s 2020 bond yield increased for a 10th day after S&P cut the nation’s debt rating. The yen and the dollar strengthened against most of their major peers. U.S. markets were closed for the Presidents’ Day holiday.
Libyan security forces attacked anti-government protesters as demonstrations spread across the Middle East and North Africa, a region that accounts for 36 percent of global crude output. Chinese authorities blocked foreign news reports on protests across the country to stamp out any movement toward pro-democracy revolts.
“You’ve got to be very concerned, particularly because it can affect the oil price, and if you have the oil price spike up another $20, $30, you could re-enter a global recession,” Bill Belchere, global chief economist at Mirae Asset Securities, told Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong.
West Texas Intermediate oil for April delivery jumped 6.3 percent to $95.39 a barrel in New York. Gold climbed to as high as $1,408.45 an ounce, and last traded at $1,406.93. Silver rose to a 30-year high of $33.9175 an ounce.
Eni, the largest foreign oil and gas producer in Libya, lost 5.1 percent, while OMV AG, central Europe’s biggest oil company, which has been in Libya since 1975, slid 4.2 percent. Tekfen Holding AS tumbled 7.9 percent as the Turkish builder suspended work on a Libyan project, saying its priority now is the safe evacuation of 1,197 non-Libyan employees.
Merck KGaA gained 4.5 percent as earnings beat forecasts. Alpha Bank SA rose 5 percent as the shares resumed trading following a takeover bid from National Bank of Greece SA.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 0.2 percent. Benchmark indexes in Russia and South Africa rose at least 0.9 percent while gauges in Turkey, Dubai and Morocco sank more than 1 percent. Brazil’s Bovespa fell 1.4 percent.
