Sawt Falasteen - Oil surges as Iran gas facilities hit, stocks slide

Stocks markets slid after a closely watched US inflation gauge came in hotter than expected, as the US Federal Reserve was holding an interests rate meeting.

"Markets are back in panic mode," said XTB research director Kathleen Brooks.

Brent oil rose over six percent at one point to nearly $110 a barrel after Iran vowed to hit energy facilities throughout the Gulf in retaliation to what it said was an Israeli attack on a facility serving a massive gas field it shares with Qatar.

"The risk is that an oil shipping crisis is morphing into an oil supply crisis," said Brooks.

"Unsurprisingly, this has spooked a market that was willing to grasp hopeful signs that tankers were slowly getting through the Strait of Hormuz, and that countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq could get oil into the market through alternative routes," she added.

Earlier Wednesday, oil prices had fallen slightly after Iraq said it had resumed limited oil exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, using a pipeline that avoids the Strait of Hormuz.

The strategic waterway usually sees a fifth of global oil pass through it but Iran has effectively shut it since the outbreak of the war, with attacks on ships.

The three main US stock indices were all lower in early afternoon trading, and European stock markets ended the day in the red.

The US Labor Department reported before the start of trading in New York that the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.7 percent in February from the previous month.

That was much faster than the 0.3 percent increase expected by analysts, and further clouded the outlook for interest rate cuts.

"The key takeaway from the report is that the uptick in producer prices was seen in both goods and services, and the added point is that this higher inflation occurred before the war with Iran and subsequent surge in energy prices, which will foment concerns about a worsening inflation situation," said Patrick J. O'Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com.

Following the US Federal Reserve meeting, on Thursday the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan will all hold meetings.

While they were all expected to keep rates steady, the latest inflation reports could lead to more hawkish comments from the central bankers.

"The (ECB's) Governing Council will not want to risk a repeat of 2022 when inflation risks were initially underestimated and perhaps contributed to the eventual surge to double digit inflation," said GianLuigi Mandruzzato, senior economist at EFG Asset Management.

Markets have been pricing in one rate cut this year in the United States, but could be forced to shift positions if Fed policymakers do so given the surge in energy prices.

The dollar, which had been little changed ahead of the Fed meeting, rose along with oil on news of the latest attacks on energy infrastructure.

Earlier in the day, shares in Seoul jumped more than five percent, driven by chip giants Samsung and SK hynix. The Kospi, however, remains more than six percent down from the record highs touched before the war broke out.

Tokyo was up 2.9 percent, while Hong Kong and Shanghai also advanced.

- Key figures at around 1630 GMT -

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 4.5 percent at $108.09 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 percent at $96.62 per barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.8 percent at 46,612.03 points

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,6681.24

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 22,353.59

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 10,305.29 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 7,969.88 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.0 percent at 23,502.25 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.9 percent at 55,239.40 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 26,025.42 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 4,062.98 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1519 from $1.1536 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3332 from $1.3352

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.44 yen from 159.05 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 86.41 pence from 86.38 pence

burs-rl/rmb

B.Mahmoud--SF-PST