Rising oil prices add to global economic strife

Rising oil prices add to global economic strife
Rising oil prices add to global economic strife

Escalating tension in the Middle East is driving up oil prices, a huge import cost for many economies, putting more strain on global growth already hurt by the trade war being waged by U.S. President Donald Trump and weakening consumer confidence.

Crude oil prices spiked more than 4% after two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, just a month after strikes on tankers in the United Arab Emirates and oil-pumping stations in Saudi Arabia.

Trump, meanwhile, has beenfighting a trade war against China and is beginning to turn his attention toother trading partners, a policy likely to raise the chances of a recessionboth at home and abroad.

Global growth is already underthreat from the trade war, slumping demand, Brexit and wider geopoliticaluncertainty.

The last thing it needs is anotherserious problem.

 "Adding to the ubiquitous trade tensions, anincreasingly uncertain situation in the Middle East is arising after U.S.Secretary of State Michael Pompeo blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers,"UniCredit economists told clients.

Pompeo said the U.S.government believes Iran is behind the latest attacks, fuelling fears of a newconfrontation between the two countries. Tehran has bluntly denied theallegation.

But even before the latestflare-up, Brent crude was expected to be more expensive this year as supplyrisks in the Middle East offset risks to demand from the U.S.-China trade spat,a Reuters survey showed last month.

 "We're seeing markets broadly in the redaround the globe on Friday with traders continuing to respond to developmentsin the Gulf of Oman, as the U.S. doesn't hesitate to point the finger of blameat Iran," said Craig Erlam at Oanda.

Investors have flocked to safeassets such as gold and the Japanese yen. Gold hit its highest level sinceApril 2018 on Friday, according to EBS prices.

Higher oil prices also generally act as a drag on growth, accelerating production costs and reducing demand as consumers are less wealthy.

Therefore, major central banksare already lining up for a race to the bottom on interest rates as they battleto shore up their struggling economies.

The chances of a FederalReserve interest rate cut this year have dramatically increased in the pastmonth, while the European Central Bank has opened the door to more stimulus.

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