2013-04-16 10:05:26 +02:00

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8227117
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# World markets fall as oil price hits 26-month high after Chinese rate rise
## World markets tumbled on Monday as fears grew that China's attempt to
control inflation could hit the tentative economic recovery in the West.
![World markets fall and oil price hits 26-month high after Chinese rate
rise][1]
China's Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.9pc, the most the index has fallen
since November Photo: Reuters
[![Garry White][2]][3]
By [Garry White][4] 11:18AM GMT 28 Dec 2010
[Follow Garry White on Twitter][5]
[Comments][6]
Soaring oil prices, which hit a 26-month high, also unsettled investors, with
losses seen from Shanghai to Wall Street.
It came amid mounting fears that China's unexpected rise in interest rates
could derail growth in Asia and damage an upturn for the world's major
exporters.
On Christmas Day, the** [People's Bank of China raised its benchmark rate by
25 basis points][7] **to 5.81pc, as the country grapples with rampant food
inflation and rising wage demands.
However, analysts believe that tightening measures by Beijing may curb growth
only slightly. On Boxing Day, analysts at JP Morgan Chase trimmed their 2011
growth forecast for the Asian economic powerhouse to 9pc from 10pc.
China's Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.9pc on Monday, the most the index has
fallen since November.
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27 Dec 2010
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25 Dec 2010
Growth concerns prompted jitters in all the world's stock markets, which
recently hit two-year highs. The German blue chip Dax index fell 1.3pc,
France's CAC 40 lost 1pc and Spain's Ibex lost 2pc. The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 0.2pc.
Growth concerns hit German carmakers particularly hard, as China became the
world's largest vehicle market in 2009. Shares in Daimler slumped 4.6pc, with
Volkswagen shares plunging 5.7pc.
On Tuesday, trading remained thin with European stock markets struggling for
direction, with investors awaiting key reports later in the day on US housing
prices and December consumer confidence. Earlier markets in China fell again
but many exchanges remain closed for the festive holiday.
The oil price, which has jumped 27pc since May, weighed heavily on market
sentiment. The severe blizzard across the eastern seaboard of the US and
continued cold temperatures in Europe are expected to push prices still higher
as demand for heating oil grows.
Brent crude for February delivery hit $94.52 in morning trading - its highest
level since the height of the banking crisis in October 2008 - before profit
takers moved in. Although UK markets were closed, Brent crude contracts can
still be traded electronically.
Oil prices are expected to rise steadily next year, with many analysts
forecasting the price could cross the psychologically important $100 a barrel
mark.
Analysts from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and
JP Morgan Chase have all said they expect oil to move above $100 in 2011, with
some raising the possibility that it could happen earlier in the year than
many feared.
"The key risk is that we are being too cautious and that the threat of $100
per barrel oil that is implicit in our fourth quarter 2011 oil forecast
arrives sooner than we expect - driven by not only a weak dollar, but also by
rampant Chinese and emerging market demand," Lawrence Eagles, an energy
analyst at JP Morgan, said in a recent report.
"High oil prices were one of the contributors to the last global crisis,"
according to analysts at JBC Energy. "The largest effect of an oil price shock
on the economy occurs around three to four quarters after the price spike." In
July 2008, the oil price hit $147 a barrel before the financial crisis caused
it to fall below $40.
Opec, the cartel which accounts for around 40pc of global crude production,
said that it does not intend to raise its production any time soon. Opec's
output quotas have remains steady since December 2008, when it curbed
production to cope with the effects of the global recession.
Qatar's oil minister, Abdullah al-Attiyah, said on Saturday that he did not
expect the cartel to meet before its scheduled gathering in June 2011.
"I do not expect an OPEC meeting before June because oil prices are stable,"
Mr al-Attiyah said on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab oil exporting
countries in Cairo.
Mr al-Attiyah also said that he did not expect Opec would increase production
at all during 2011, despite the prospect of rising demand if the recovery
continues.
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price-hits-26-month-high-after-Chinese-rate-rise.html
Telegraph
## [Markets][19]
* ### [Finance »][20]
* ### [Oil Prices »][21]
* ### [Business Latest News »][22]
* ### [China business »][23]
* ### [Garry White »][3]
In finance
[![FTSE 100: Global markets ? in graphs][24] ][25]
### [This week on the global markets - in graphs][25]
[![Top ten most valuable companies in the FTSE 100: in pictures][26] ][27]
### [Top ten most valuable companies in the FTSE 100][27]
[![Global stock markets review of 2010][28] ][8]
### [World markets review of 2010][8]
[![Questor share tips for 2011.][29] ][30]
### [Questor share tips for 2011][30]
[![Sunday Telegraph share tips for 2011][31] ][32]
### [Sunday Telegraph share tips for 2011][32]
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