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By: Real America News Updated 04 Sea 2022, 04: 30 PM EST
This Friday, an encouraging report on employment in the US during the month of February was overshadowed amid an escalating offensive by Russian forces in Ukraine, causing US stocks to fall and further increase in price of the barrel of oil that exceeded $113 dollars.
By Friday afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 400 points or a 1 %, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1% and 0.6%, respectively . The financial sector lowered to of the 11 sectors of the S&P.
These results were preceded by more acute losses in Europe after a fire in the continent’s largest nuclear plant caused by bombings raised concerns about how much more the war will drive up the prices of oil, grains and other sources of inflation.
Concerns about oil and grains 2022
Benchmark US crude rose to $113 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard price, exceeded $113 per barrel. Energy shares rose in tandem.
Oil prices are expected to post their strongest weekly gains since mid-2020, with US crude rising more than 30 % and Brent with a 16 % after reaching its highest level in a decade.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, hundreds of tankers and bulk carriers have been diverted from the Black Sea, while dozens more have been stranded in ports and at sea unable to unload their cargoes.
Russia is a leading exporter of grains and a major supplier of crude oil, metals, wood and plastics, all used throughout the world in a variety of products and by a multitude of industries s, from steelmakers to automakers.
Further inflation expected
The chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, warned on Thursday that it is likely that the fighting in the Ukraine raises inflation even more which worries the world economies.
Due to oil supply, prices have been rising as global supplies are threatened by conflict, raising concerns that persistent inflation could rise further.
Powell said he is committed to doing whatever it takes to curb inflation, underscoring the high-risk challenge of raising interest rates enough to cool price pressures without trigger another recession.
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