The Japan Times - Oil prices jump on Iran attack fears while US stocks fall

Crude prices jumped more than three percent at one point as optimism faded following Thursday talks between the two nations that were seen as a last-ditch bid to avert war.

"With the US having called on its citizens to leave Israel and Iran, the threat of an attack on the Islamic Republic has dramatically risen, pushing the oil price to a seven-month high," said analyst Axel Rudolph at investing and trading platform IG.

The benchmark international contract, Brent, briefly rose over $73 per barrel before finishing at $72.48, up 2.5 percent.

Wall Street's main stock indices fell, with tech stocks taking a hit.

Financial services firm Block's announcement that it would slash its workforce by nearly half and rely heavily on AI to operate more efficiently sparked fresh concerns about the disruptive nature of the technology.

Stock markets soared to fresh heights last year thanks to investors piling into stocks of tech firms which are piling massive amounts of money into developing and deploying AI.

But the march higher has not been steady in recent months as concern about artificial intelligence disrupting industries occasionally triggers sudden drops in markets.

Investors have also been occasionally seized by concerns that the share prices of tech giants have risen too high and that AI may not be profitable.

"AI, the trade that drove the market higher last year, is weighing on the market this year," said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments. "There's a lot of disruption and fear spreading, because we don't know how AI will impact the market."

Sarhan also pointed to Friday's report on US producer prices as a driver of negative sentiment. The index rose a greater than expected 0.5 percent in January, adding to worries the Federal Reserve could refrain from additional interest rate cuts.

Financial stocks were under pressure on lingering fears about weakness in the private credit market. Two of Friday's biggest losers in the Dow were Goldman Sachs, down 7.5 percent, and JPMorgan Chase, down 1.9 percent.

But shares of Paramount Skydance surged more than 20 percent as it stood poised to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix ended its pursuit of the media giant in a takeover battle.

Netflix, which will garner a $2.8 billion breakup fee after being outbid, rose 13.8 percent.

In Europe, the jump in oil and metals prices helped London's FTSE 100 stock index buck the trend, rising to a fresh record high as energy and resources stocks rose.

Frankfurt ended the day flat and Paris fell.

- Key figures at around 2115 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.1 percent at 48,977.92 (close)

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.4 percent at 6,878.88 (close)

New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 22,668.21 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 10,910.55 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 8,580.75 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT at 25,284.26 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 58,850.27 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.0 percent at 26,630.54 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 4,162.88 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1823 from $1.1797 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3486 from $1.3482

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 156.03 yen from 156.13 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.67 pence from 87.49 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.5 percent at $72.48 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.8 percent at $67.02 per barrel

burs-jmb/sla

T.Sasaki--JT