LONDON/SYDNEY: Share markets fell on Monday as the inflationary jolt from surging oil prices threatened to raise living costs and interest rates around the globe, while investors desperate for liquidity fled to the US dollar.
Crude oil futures soared almost 30 percent to nearly $120 a barrel, one of its biggest one-day jumps on record, threatening to raise costs of products from gasoline to jet fuel. Brent crude futures were last up nearly 13 percent at $104.5 a barrel, while US futures were up 12 percent at $101.8.
Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader, signalling that hard-liners remained firmly in charge a week into the war with the US and Israel.
That was unlikely to be welcomed by US President Donald Trump, who had declared the son “unacceptable.”
With hostilities continuing in the Middle East and tankers unable to cross the Strait of Hormuz amid the threat of Iranian drone attacks, investors were bracing for a long stretch of higher energy costs.
