Oil Markets Volatile

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Oil Markets Volatile

Oil Markets Volatile

Oil markets have turned extremely volatile lately due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war has extended more than a week. The price of a barrel jumped to about $140 earlier, making the segment highly turbulent.

The Brent crude reachedthe level of highest price position since 2008. Russian tankers first entered the Ukrainian border on February 24 and a simultaneous effect was witnessed in the oil market with a spike of about 30 percent.

Stock futures in Europe have dropped over 2 percent and a similar rise has been witnessed in the US futures. The Nikkei has fallen to the lowest level in more than a year.

Meanwhile, the euro is being witnessed losing value against the USD due to the rise in oil prices and had hit the lowest level in about two years. It has dropped below the Swiss franc for the first time in about six years.

If the oil prices jump high, the euro drops as inflation leads to less consumption of energy. Goldman Sachs stated a rise of $20 in oil prices may lead to dropping the economic growth by 0.6 percent in the eurozone and by 0.3 percent in the US.

The policymakers now have reasons to worry and investors will be keeping an eye on their meetings to keep inflation under their control.

Russian Volatility

Meanwhile, Russia has indicatedblocking Instagram in the country and simultaneously launched an investigation against Meta, the owner of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, for allowing posts calling death to Russia in Ukraine.

Meta is based in the US and it is a direct confrontation against the Biden government, which has placed sanctions and banned oil imports from Russia.

Earlier, Russia blocked Facebook and dropped access to Twitter too in the country. The regulator said Instagram is spreading hatred against the Russian military and citizens.

Facebook has 7.5 million users in Russia while about 50.8 million Russians use Instagram. Similarly,WhatsApp has about 67 million users in the country.

WhatsApp will not be affected by the legal battle as it is simply a messaging app and not an information platform like Facebook and Instagram.

The relaxing rules of Meta led to controversy with the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. TheUK simultaneously voiced alarm and warned hate speech may lead to disaster against the Russian citizens.

With the ban, Russia now joins North Korea and China. Facebook and Instagram cannot be accessed from these countries.

The latest update from the war zone reveals Ukraine president is open for talks with the Russian counterpart agreeing to conditions like dropping the plan to join NATO.

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