Fears that Russia could cut off supplies are driving gas prices higher. Given the gloomy outlook for the global economy, investors turned to dollars and government bonds.
At the end of the week, gas prices continued to rise. The prospect of a possible suspension of deliveries of Russian gas to Europe drove the listing on the European futures market up by six percent to a three-month high of EUR 153.50 per megawatt hour. Because of the gas crisis, a recession is becoming more and more likely, warned analyst Jochen Stanzl from CMC Markets. “There is simply no remedy against a gas supply freeze other than shutting down large parts of the German economy. A supply freeze could force another shutdown.” In the FX market, investors played it safe with the increasingly gloomy outlook for the global economy and turned to the dollar. In return, the euro fell 0.6 percent to $ 1.0410. Government bonds were also in demand. The yield on ten-year Bunds fell accordingly to 1.16 percent from the previous 1.367 percent. Economic pessimism also shaped the mood on the other commodity markets. The price of the industrial metal copper fell by 3.4 percent and was at 7970.50 dollars per tonne as low as it was a year and a half ago. Not even encouraging economic data from China brightened the mood, the analysts at ANZ Bank wrote.
Fears of a tight oil supply drove prices for the raw material up again. A barrel of North Sea Brent cost 1.6 percent more at $111, and WTI crude oil from the USA also rose by two percent to just under $108. The supply concerns were justified with delivery failures in Libya. Oil shipments are currently on hold in two important ports in the country due to political unrest. In addition, some oil platforms are expected to be shut down in Norway next week due to strikes.