Investor jitters grow as higher oil prices stoke rate rise fears | The Business скачать в хорошем качестве

Investor jitters grow as higher oil prices stoke rate rise fears | The Business

The threat to the global economy from the Middle East war intensifying became more real for investors this week. The Australian share market had a volatile week, down as much as 4 per cent on Monday, before clawing back some ground mid-week. By Friday, the ASX 200 closed down 2.6 per cent for the week at 8,617. Attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf and warnings from Iran shattered hopes of a quick resolution to the conflict and sent oil prices to around $US100 a barrel, stoking inflation fears. In Australia, all four big bank economists think the RBA will be forced to lift the cash rate to 4.1% on March 17. Financial market expectations for a rate hike rose from around 30 per cent to almost 80 per cent. Gemma Dale from NAB trade told Alicia Barry that some pundits she's spoken to with meaningful views about the Middle East think the risks are greater than many investors are accounting for "even if Donald Trump can secure an exit, that doesn't mean things settle down. The risk is still there that insurers are still constantly going to be concerned about risks in the Strait (of Hormuz), that oil prices are higher for longer, whether we like it or not...but I think a lot of people are feeling that there are risks not priced in just yet." As for the week ahead, Gemma Dale says the Middle East conflict will dominate attention, along with the RBA's rates decision and the ABS jobs numbers on Thursday. #ABCBusiness Subscribe: http://ab.co/1svxLVE ABC NEWS provides around the clock coverage of news events as they break in Australia and abroad. It's news when you want it, from Australia's most trusted news organisation. For more from ABC NEWS, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY Watch more ABC NEWS content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1 Go deeper on our ABC NEWS In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2 Like ABC NEWS on Facebook:   / abcnews.au   Follow ABC NEWS on Instagram:   / abcnews_au   Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated. #ABCNEWS #ABCNEWSAustralia