Meanwhile, the stock MSCI Asia-Pac index was on course for a bear market — a drop of more than 20% from a February 2021 peak, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plunged more than 5%, and below the March 2020 low…
… as Brent oil briefly hit $139 a barrel at the open when stops were hit, and West Texas Intermediate $130 a barrel, before trimming some of the rally…
… even as Jen Psaki earlier tweeted a humorous tweetstorm about how the US plans to achieve energy security in 9 “specific” steps:
The catalyst for the sharp move higher in oil was the earlier commentary from Secretary of State Antony Blinken who said the U.S. and its allies are looking at a coordinated embargo following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while ensuring appropriate global supply.
It is the latest spike in energy prices, which are now dangerously close to levels last seen in 2008 just before everything collapsed, that threaten to spark a global recession, something we have been warning about for months, and is a risk that is sending tremors across markets.
The risk carnage sent funds flowing into safe havens: in one of the clearest signs of risk-off markets, the swiss franc just broke below parity with the euro for the first time since the SNB depegged back in January 2015, even though a governing board member of the Swiss National Bank said it’s ready to intervene to tackle rapid strengthening.
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