While both these stocks were down in absolute terms, relative to the market they fell by a smaller amount. Interestingly, Shell only dipped 0.4% whereas BP was down by a greater amount at 2.6% which can be explained by its near-20% stake in Russian oil producer Rosneft whose own shares dived 40% on Thursday.
The surge in the oil price is terrible news for businesses and consumers, and fundamentally this clarifies one of the key impacts of the Russia/Ukraine war – it will serve to further stoke inflation.
Not only will energy bills keep going up, but food prices look set to jump even higher. Ukraine and Russia are both big food suppliers and any disruption to supplies will force buyers to seek alternative sources, which could jack up prices.
Investor sentiment was already fragile because of rising inflation and the upwards direction of travel for interest rates, but confirmation of war and the associated alarming news headlines around the world are likely to see equity markets go through a difficult period for longer than people might have previously expected.
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