Gas and oil prices soar and stock markets fall after attacks on gas facilities

The price of Brent crude oil – the benchmark for European crude – started Thursday with a 6% increase, exceeding $114, following the Israeli bombing of the islands. South Pars gas facilities (the largest in the world). As for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil (the US benchmark), it stands at 1.28%, at $96.54 per barrel. The price of natural gas on the Dutch TTF market – the European benchmark – soared 28.06% on Thursday, reaching €70.20 per megawatt hour (MWh).

European stock markets opened in the red again on Thursday, after closing Wednesday with almost across-the-board declines, amid the surge in oil and natural gas prices following attacks on key energy infrastructure in the Middle East. The Ibex 35, the main index of the Spanish stock market, fell 1.46% and is putting the 17,000-point mark at risk. Frankfurt's Dax suffered a 1.62% drop; in Milan, the FTSE MIB fell 1.40%; In London, the FTSE-100 was down 1.34%, and in Paris, the CAC-40 fell 0.83%. Meanwhile, the average price of 95-octane unleaded gasoline in Spain is €1.708 per liter, while diesel reaches €1.836. Data from the state-run gas station geoportal shows that Catalonia is above the Spanish average for gasoline, with an average price of around €1.773 per liter, while diesel exceeds the €2 mark, reaching €2.051. Asian stock markets, for their part, have been marked by volatility and have registered significant declines this Thursday. In Japan, the Nikkei fell 3.38%. The South Korean Kospi fell 2.73%, and in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index registered a drop of 2.02%. Regarding the currency market, the rise in oil prices is also affecting the dollar's exchange rate. The euro has fallen to $1.145, while bond yields have risen sharply; in the case of Spain, to 3.488%.