Oil surges as trade mixed amid latest COVID wave

Oil surges as trade mixed amid latest COVID wave

NEW YORK: Oil prices surged following the blockage of the Suez canal, while stocks were mixed as governments struggle to contain the latest wave of the coronavirus. Crude futures surged six percent as traders assessed the likely impact from the grounding of a giant container ship in one of the world's busiest shipping routes. Dozens of ships were blocked by the Panama-flagged ship, but historic sections of the canal were reopened in an effort to ease the traffic jam.

"The energy market has largely priced in the short-term crude demand hit,“ said Ed Moya of Oanda. Meanwhile, Wall Street stocks suffered another down day, despite strength in petroleum-linked equities. The tech-rich Nasdaq slumped 2.0 percent behind drops in Apple, Facebook and other tech giants. "We're sort of taking a pause for breath,“ said FHN Financial economist Chris Low. "There's definitely some rotation going on.“

Low said disappointing durable goods data fueled the rout, including weakness in motor vehicles and parts, an industry that has seen production cuts due to a shortage of semiconductors. Another source of economic pressure has been the Texas power outage in February, Low said. Angst is also rising in the wake of congressional appearances by Treasury Secretary Janet