The US stock market, already on edge from a hawkish Federal Reserve and tensions in Ukraine, has another worry: higher oil prices. Rapidly rising oil prices can be a troubling development for markets, as they cloud the economic outlook by increasing costs for businesses and consumers. While overall consumer prices rose 7.5pc year-over-year in January, the index’s energy component rose by 27pc. Each “sustained” $10 increase in the price of oil per barrel adds about 0.3 percentage points to the overall consumer price index, on a year-over-year basis, according to analysts at Oxford Economics. “Higher oil prices, without a recession, raise S&P profits,” Mr Bianco said.

Source: Irish Independent February 21, 2022 05:36 UTC