Ukraine Crisis | Oil climbs, stocks rise as US bans Russian crude imports
Published:Tuesday | March 8, 2022 | 2:30 PM
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks gained ground, oil prices jumped and the price of nickel surged so much that trading for it was shut on Tuesday, as the United States banned imports of oil from Russia and the economic fallout from its invasion of Ukraine kept rocking markets.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1% in afternoon trading, but only after earlier pinballing between gains and losses.
It's coming off a three-day losing streak where worries about a possible, painful combination of higher inflation and a slowing economy triggered the index's worst day in 16 months.
The Nasdaq composite was 1.7% higher, a day after closing 20% below its record high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also bounced up and down, and it was sitting on a gain of 401 points, or 1.2%, at 33,200, as of 1:27 p.m. Eastern time.
At the centre of Wall Street's wild recent swings has been the price of oil, which has surged on worries global supplies will be upended because Russia is one of the world's largest producers.
After President Joe Biden announced the ban on imports of Russian oil, a barrel of US crude was 5% higher at $125.48 per barrel.
It got even higher a day before as worries rose about a possible ban, reaching $130.50.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.4% to $127.35.
Investors have been factoring in the possibility of the US banning Russian oil, said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco, just as they have been adjusting to the volatility created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“Markets just need time to digest things and they were credibly shocked when it (the invasion) happened,” she said.
“It's not a surprise that the EU is not going in with the US on this, and that is certainly a positive for oil, but we also have to recognise that this is changing rather quickly.”
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