Oil prices continued to rise until they approached 140 dollars a barrel on Sunday, with the rise in gold prices, which briefly exceeded the threshold of two thousand dollars an ounce, while the Asian stock exchanges recorded a decline, due to the repercussions of Russia's war in Ukraine on the global economy.

The price of a barrel of Brent North Sea crude approached $140 on Sunday at about 23:00 GMT, and fell below its record level of 147.50 recorded in July 2008.

But then it fell before it rose again wildly, as oil prices jumped more than 10% in frantic trading today, Monday, due to fears of a US and European embargo on Russian oil and delays in Iranian nuclear talks.

Brent price rose $12.73 to $130.84 a barrel, its highest level since 2008, while US crude rose $9.92 to $125.60.

After Brent crude rose 21% last week, it rose again due to fears that the United States and Europe would impose a ban on Russian oil.

"If the West shuts down most of Russia's energy exports, it would be a huge shock to global markets," said Ethan Harris, chief economist at Bank of America.

Harris estimated that a market loss of 5 million barrels of Russian oil could double oil prices, to $200 a barrel, and lower global economic growth.

Russia is the second largest crude oil producer in the world, with a daily average of 10.2 million barrels per day, while Iran is the third largest oil producer in OPEC, in normal conditions, with a daily average of 3.86 million barrels.

The ongoing tensions in eastern Europe continue to cast a negative shadow on global markets, as the prices of major commodities, led by oil, gas and wheat, record successive increases, at a time when the global economy is heading towards a wave of inflation starting from this March.

gold is rising

On Monday, gold prices crossed the two-thousand-dollar mark for the first time in a year and a half as investors sought that safe haven in the wake of the escalating Russian-Ukrainian crisis, while fears of a halt in palladium supplies pushed to an all-time high.

And gold in spot transactions rose 0.9% to $ 1986.83 an ounce (an ounce) by 03:30 UTC, after rising to its highest level since August 19, 2020, recording $ 2000.69 earlier today.

US gold futures rose 1.3% to $ 1992.00, and palladium rose 4.3% to $3,130.16 an ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $3,172.22 earlier in the session.

Spot silver rose 0.4% to $25.76 an ounce, while platinum jumped 2% to $1,143.47.

Aluminum and copper set new records, with a ton of aluminum exceeding the $4,000 threshold, while a ton of copper recorded 10,845 dollars.

Asian stocks and the euro are falling

On the other hand, Asian stocks recorded a decline, and the main Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed down 2.94% at 25,221.41 points, its lowest level since November 2020.

The shares of all sectors included in the Nikkei index collapsed except for energy. The losses in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange were worse, with the Hang Seng Index falling by 3.5%, while in mainland China, the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges fell by more than 2%.

In the exchange market, the euro fell significantly against the dollar, recording 1.0880 at about 06:30 UTC, compared to 1.0928 Friday, and the euro fell against the yen as well, recording 125.08 yen against one euro, and Friday recorded 125.48 yen, and the dollar exchange rate improved against the yen The US currency reached 114.96 yen, compared to 114.82 yen at the end of last week.