World markets were mixed and oil prices rose on Tuesday as Western governments considered more sanctions against Moscow in response to evidence Russian troops intentionally killed civilians.
Benchmarks rose in Frankfurt, Tokyo and Sydney but fell in Paris and London. Many Asian markets including those in China were closed for a holiday.
Russia’s withdrawal of troops from areas near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, led to the discovery of corpses, led to accusations of war crimes and demands for tougher sanctions against Moscow. Such moves add to uncertainty and could push up already high oil and gas prices, among other commodities.
The invasion of Ukraine has raised concerns about rising inflation and the impact on global economic growth. Prices of everything from food to clothing have increased and the war has added volatility to energy prices as Europe depends on Russia for a large portion of its oil and gas.
European leaders have been divided over how to react to Ukraine’s latest developments. French President Emmanuel Macron said new sanctions were needed. Poland urged Europe to quickly cut Russian energy, while Germany said it would pursue an approach of phasing out coal and oil imports over the next few months.
US crude rose $1.59 to $104.87 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Brent crude rose 1.62 cents to $109.15 a barrel.
The price of benchmark US crude rose 4% on Monday, and the price of Brent crude, the benchmark for international pricing, was up 3%.
Germany’s DAX gained 0.1% to 14,536.78, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.6% to 6,689.80. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 7,545.38. Futures on the S&P 500 index and the Dow fell 0.2%.
In New York on Monday, the S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent, the Dow gained 0.3 percent and the tech Nasdaq added 1.9 percent. The Russell 200 index of small-cap stocks rose 0.2%.
In Asian trade, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent to 27,787.98 and Seoul’s Kospi index rose 0.1 percent to 2,759.20. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% to 7,527.90. India’s Sensex fell 0.1%.
Chinese markets were closed for the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, but many markets in Shanghai’s largest city are being closed due to the worsening coronavirus outbreak.
Shanghai recorded another 13,354 cases on Monday – the majority of which were asymptomatic – bringing the city’s total to more than 73,000 since the latest wave of infections began last month.
The outbreak in China and resulting restrictions on business and other activities could exacerbate the downturn in the world’s second-largest economy.
The World Bank lowered its 2022 growth forecast for the Asia-Pacific region from 5.4% to 5%, partly due to commodity supply disruptions, financial stress and related higher prices. to the war in Ukraine. That follows a recovery to 7.2% growth in 2021 after many economies experienced recessions with the outbreak of the pandemic.
A report released on Tuesday forecast slower growth and rising poverty rates in the Asia-Pacific region this year as “multiple shocks” for people and businesses.
The Fed will release the minutes of its final meeting on Wednesday.
In currency trading, the US dollar was almost unchanged at 122.79 Japanese yen. The euro rose to $1.0984 from $1.0976.
