Twitter Shares Take Wing, Oil Prices Rebound

Stock markets were relatively subdued on Monday while oil prices rose as Western nations eyed more sanctions on Russia, but Twitter stood out as its shares soared after Elon Musk purchased a major stake in the social network

London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Apr, 2022 ) :Stock markets were relatively subdued on Monday while oil prices rose as Western nations eyed more sanctions on Russia, but Twitter stood out as its shares soared after Elon Musk purchased a major stake in the social network.

Twitter's stock soared 25 percent after news of the Tesla boss's investment.

According to a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk acquired nearly 73.5 million Twitter shares -- a 9.2-percent stake in the company.

While Twitter is not large enough in terms of capitalisation to impact the wider market, market analyst Patrick O'Hare said the move has bolstered sentiment.

"What the market is really responding to is the timing of Musk's purchase and the supposition that it is an encouraging signal that longer-term investment opportunities might be availing themselves now in former high-flying stocks," he said.

European stock markets closed with modest gains, while Wall Street was flat to higher in late morning trade.

The EU said it is urgently discussing a new round of sanctions on Russia as it condemned "atrocities" reported in Ukrainian towns that have been occupied by Moscow's troops, while US President Joe Biden also called for new punitive measures.

"Even fresh sanctions talk does not appear to be having much of an effect, as the market learns to look past the immediate hit to earnings," said analyst Chris Beauchamp at online trading platform IG.

"The strength of Friday's payrolls report remains a motivating factor too, even if it has also emboldened Fed policy makers to think more seriously about a 50 basis point hike next time they meet," he added.

The world's top economy added 431,000 jobs in March while the US unemployment rate fell to just slightly above pre-pandemic levels, official data showed Friday.

Economists viewed the figures as reinforcing the Federal Reserve's commitment to forcefully raising interest rates, perhaps by half a percentage point at its meeting next month, which would be double the increase it announced when it began hiking in March.

Oil prices rebounded after falling last week on concerns about demand given Covid lockdowns in China and the 31-nation International Energy Agency agreeing to tap its vast reserves to offset the removal of Russian exports.

"Oil prices have rebounded after last week's big falls with US prices recovering back above $100 a barrel, in the wake of renewed calls for further sanctions against Russian oil and gas imports," said market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.

"This appears to be outweighing concerns over Chinese demand after the whole of Shanghai, a city of 25 million people, was put into a covid lockdown," he added.

- Sri Lanka crisis - Elsewhere, Turkey's lira held relatively steady against the Dollar and euro after official data showed the country's inflation had soared to a fresh record high.

In Sri Lanka, trading was halted on the stock exchange seconds after opening as the island nation's president offered to share power with the opposition.

Protests demanding the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa grew over unprecedented food and fuel shortages along with record inflation and crippling power cuts in the South Asian country.

Sri Lanka's stock market slid more than the five percent in value -- the threshold needed to trigger an automatic stop.

- Key figures around 1530 GMT - New York - Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 34,830.12 points EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.0 percent at 3,956.52 London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 7,558.92 (close) Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 at 14,518.16 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 6,731.37 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 27,736.47 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.1 percent at 22,502.31 (close) Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday Brent North Sea crude: UP 3.8 percent at $108.38 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.2 percent at $103.48 per barrel Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0992 from $1.1049 late Friday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3120 from $1.3118Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.79 pence from 84.24 penceDollar/yen: UP at 122.72 Yen from 122.49 yen