Oil prices continued to rise on Thursday after reports that an Iranian missile had struck a US-registered tanker in the Persian Gulf, pushing Brent crude up 3.3% to $84 a barrel. Gas prices also edged higher, with UK gas rising nearly 1% and European natural gas futures climbing 2%.
Asian stock markets rebounded after days of heavy losses linked to the Middle East conflict. South Korea’s KOSPI, which fell 12% on Tuesday, rose almost 10% on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.9%, and MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan jumped 2.7%.
Qatar, the Gulf’s largest liquefied natural gas producer, suspended activity at its facilities on Monday and declared force majeure on gas exports on Wednesday, freeing it from contractual obligations. Reuters cited sources saying a return to normal production could take at least a month.
In the Middle East, the Abu Dhabi stock market fell 2.6% and the Dubai exchange dropped 2.2%, with both setting a 5% lower price limit on securities. In London, the FTSE 100 slipped 0.3% in early trading but later rose 60 points, or about 0.5%.
Wizz Air warned of a €50m hit to annual profits due to cancelled flights to Israel, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Amman until 15 March and higher jet fuel costs. The Hungarian airline said net profits this year are likely to be below its previous forecast of a €25m loss to €25m profit. Its London-listed shares fell up to 6%.
China told its largest oil refiners to halt exports of diesel and gasoline amid crude supply disruptions, according to Bloomberg. Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission met refinery executives and called for an immediate temporary suspension of refined product shipments.
