Oil prices rose this morning as investors around the world weighed the risk of threats to energy supplies after Iran’s missile attack on Israel threatened to escalate the Middle East conflict. The price of Brent crude oil futures, the North Sea benchmark, rose by 1.6% to $74.75, while the price of futures for its North American counterpart, West Texas Intermediate, rose by 1.7% to $70.98. Prices soared on Tuesday as reports of Iran’s imminent attack emerged. Brent crude prices rose by 3.8%, after the largest intra-day move since April 2023, according to analysts led by Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank. They wrote: "There were some indications that escalation risks might be higher this time around. The Pentagon said that this attack used around twice as many ballistic missiles as the one in April, while Iranian commentary was more ambiguous on whether the attack would be one-off." Most Asian stock markets outside China slumped this morning, following the lead of US indices the night before. Japan’s Nikkei slumped by 2.2%, South Korea’s Kospi fell by 0.6%, and Australia’s ASX 200 index fell by 0.1%. However, Hong Kong’s stock market soared by 6% amid Beijing’s stimulus, which has pushed up Chinese stocks. The mainland Chinese stock markets were closed for the Golden Week holiday. European stock markets have gained ground this morning – suggesting that the sell-off in response to the Middle Eastern conflicts is so far limited to oil prices. Britain's FTSE 100 is up 0.3%, Germany's Dax is flat, France's Cac 40 is up 0.3% and Spain's Ibex is down 0.3%. The agenda • 10am BST: eurozone unemployment rate (August; previous 6.4%; consensus 6.4%) • 1.15pm BST: US ADP employment change (September; previous 99,000; consensus 120,000) We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ...
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