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U.S. Markets Set To Open Lower; Oil Prices Continue To Surge
- By The Financial District
- Mar 8, 2022
- 2 min read
US markets were heading for a lower open Monday (Tuesday, Mar. 8, 2022, in Manila), following global markets as oil prices jumped and the conflict in Ukraine deepened amid mounting calls for harsher sanctions against Russia, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Photo Insert: The price of regular gasoline rose almost 41 cents, breaking $4 per gallon (3.8 liters) on average across the U.S. on Sunday for the first time since 2008.
Future contracts for the Dow Jones Industrials and S&P 500 both fell 0.6%. European markets opened lower and the price of gold surged above $2,000 an ounce briefly as investors bought the precious metal viewed as a safe haven in times of crisis.
Oil prices came under additional pressure after Libya’s national oil company said an armed group had shut down two crucial oil fields. The move caused the country’s daily oil output to drop by 330,000 barrels.
Reports said US officials may be considering easing sanctions against Venezuela. That potentially could free up more crude oil and ease concerns about reduced supplies from Russia.
In early European trading, France’s CAC 40 fell 1.2% while Germany’s DAX lost 1.6%. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.7%. Higher fuel costs are devastating for Japan, which imports almost all its energy. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 2.9% to 25,221.41.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 3.9% to 21,057.63, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 2.3% to 2,651.31. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.0% to 7,038.60. while the Shanghai Composite lost 2.2% to 3,372.86.
US crude jumped $5.21 to $120.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The all-time high was marked in July 2008, when the price per barrel of U.S. crude climbed to $145.29. That pushed the average price for gasoline in the US above $4 a gallon, a milestone already reached again.
The price of regular gasoline rose almost 41 cents, breaking $4 per gallon (3.8 liters) on average across the U.S. on Sunday for the first time since 2008, according to the AAA motor club. Brent crude, the international pricing standard, hit $139.13 per barrel before falling back Monday. It was trading up $6.45 at $124.56 a barrel in London.
