Oil nears $130 after Biden bans Russian oil imports
Adriaan Pask, PhD. CIO, PSG Wealth
Market commentary
The price of oil neared $130 a barrel last night after US President Joe Biden announced additional sanctions on Russian oil, gas, and energy products. He also pleaded with companies not to take advantage of consumers in this environment.
“In the US 90% of onshore oil production takes place on land that is not owned by the Federal Government…Russia’s actions impact us all, I will not tolerate profiteering,” Biden said during a news conference.
“To protect our economy in the long run, we need to become energy independent and quicken our transformation to clean energy…I want the US to become the leader in the export of clean energy technology,” he told reporters.
Gold also continued its rally as investors dumped riskier assets like equities, with one ounce trading close to the all-time high of $2 074 hit in August 2020.
Major global markets continued to fall on Tuesday with Wall Street’s three major indices falling close to 3% after Biden’s announcement at 18h45. European and Asian markets also closed in the red on energy supply concerns and increased inflationary fears.
Surprisingly the rand continued to firm against the British pound and the euro trading at R20.08 and R16.68 at 18h50 respectively. However, the JSE closed by 1.22% dragged down by most sectors on the local exchange.