LONDON, Jan 8 — World oil prices dipped today in afternoon European trading, after briefly spiking when Iran launched missile attacks on US targets in Iraq.
The strikes, launched in retaliation for the assassination of Iran’s top general last Friday, sent Brent and New York crude to multi-month peaks before profit-taking and experience prevailed.
Iran said it had “concluded” its missile attacks for now, and analysts pointed out that oil traders had many sources at their disposal in any event.
“Sooner or later investors will realise that the plentiful non-OPEC supply will more than make up for any short-term disruptions in the Middle East,” noted Forex.com market analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
SEB analyst Bjarne Schieldrop added that “not a single drop of oil supply has been lost due to the recent incidents and this is why the oil price has fallen back down again so quickly. What the market fears is that the situation spirals out of control.”
Global stock markets initially slid on investor concern of a broader conflict, though many were in positive territory in afternoon trades.
London stocks were the outlier, down by almost 0.2 per cent, while Frankfurt gained 0.5 per cent and Paris was slightly higher as well.
Fears of escalation proved “to be short-lived as the US administration avoided an impulsive military response in the aftermath” of the Iranian strikes, explained analyst Bethel Loh at trading firm ThinkMarkets.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the country does “not seek escalation or war”.
Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson remarked that “at present you sense traders are sitting on their hands a bit while they wait for the US president to respond officially to the Iranian attacks.”
Safe haven assets fared well initially, but after surging above US$1,600 (RM6,549) an ounce for the first time in six years, gold fell back to US$1,573.60 which represented a slight loss on the day.
Key figures at 1500 GMT
Brent Crude: DOWN 0.6 per cent at US$67.89 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.0 per cent at US$62.09
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 per cent at 7,561.59 points
Paris - CAC 40: UP less than 0.1 per cent at 6,016.64
Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.5 per cent at 13,293.08
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 per cent at 3,765.00
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.6 per cent at 23.204,76 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.2 per cent at 3,066.89 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.8 per cent at 28,087.92 (close)
New York - Dow: UP less than 0.1 per cent at 28,609.49
Pound/dollar: UP at US$1.3128 from US$1.3126 at 2200 GMT
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.76 pence from 84.97 pence
Euro/dollar: DOWN at US$1.1126 from US$1.1153
Dollar/yen: UP at 108.70 from 108.44 yen
— — AFP
