Oil prices jump due to fears over tight supply fueled by a blast on a pipeline between Iraq and Turkey and geopolitical tensions in Russia and the United Arab Emirates. Brent oil futures were up 39 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $87.90 a barrel. Earlier in the day, the benchmark contract rose to $89.05, its highest level since Oct. 13, 2014.
Inflation in the UK rose to 5.4%, the highest rate since March 1992, increasing the pressure on the Bank of England to hike interest rates once more
On Tuesday, futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index (.NDX) slumped 1.7%, S&P fell 1.07% and Dow Jones is down 0.8% as two-year Treasury yields crossed 1% for the first time since February 2020.
China's economy grew 8.1% in 2021 as industrial production rose steadily through the end of the year. However, the real estate crisis, COVID-19 outbreaks and Beijing's stringent zero-tolerance policy to virus control all contributed to weakening growth in 2021's last months.
Recent US Consumer Price Index data revealed that consumer prices had experienced a 7.00% surge on a year-on-year basis. This was the largest increase since June of 1982.
A survey done by Visa has revealed that nearly 25.00% of small businesses in nine countries were preparing to offer crypto payments.
During the week, crude oil prices surged to two month high levels. The price surge was attributed to the markets shrugging off the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
BMW announced on Wednesday that the company had delivered a record of 2.21 million automobiles in 2021. The company increased deliveries by 9.10%, compared to 2020.
The Chinese government revealed this week that annual auto sales in China had increased for the first time since 2017.
This week, Reuters revealed that Morgan Stanley would increase the annual pay bonuses of their top performers by more than 20.00%.
After booking gains of more than 10.00% on Wednesday, the price for natural gas plummeted on Thursday. By 16:00 GMT, the commodity had returned to trade below the $4.10 mark, as an almost 7.00% decline occurred.
This week, CVS raised its profit forecast for 2021, as the company had not previously expected the spreading and subsequent surge of testing of the Omicron Covid-19 variant.
During Wednesday's US trading, the price for FCX, Freeport McMoran, reached the $45.40 mark, as the stock jumped 5.02%. By doing so, the stock price approached its all-time-high levels.
This week, the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve stated that he expects the US economy to withstand the Omicron variant and a monetary policy tightening.
The CEO of Abbot Labs Robert Ford stated this week that the company expects strong demand for Covid-19 testing in 2022.
Volkswagen announced this week that in 2022 the company aims to double its electric car sales in China.
Nokia revealed this week that the company expects its turnaround recovery to continue into 2022, as the company expects an operating margin of 11.00%-13.50%.
This week, China Passenger Car Association revealed that in December Tesla had sold a record of 70,847 vehicles that were made in China.
On Wednesday, at 13:30 GMT, the US Consumer Price Index and Core Consumer Price index data was released. The USD reacted by declining. For example, the EUR/USD rate jumped 26 base points in the six minutes following the release.
On Wednesday, the stock price of Philips plummeted by 16.00%. The decline occurred, as the company announced that shortages and recalls had impacted profits.
The President of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Loretta Mester stated this week that she would back a US rate hike in March to battle inflation.
During early Wednesday's trading, the price for natural gas clearly passed above the $4.00 mark, as it reached above $4.15. Since December 6, the price had been fluctuating almost sideways between 3.50/3.60 and 4.02/4.04.
On Tuesday, Volkswagen's Skoda Auto revealed that the company had experienced a 12.6% drop in 2021 in global auto deliveries.
This week, the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell stated that he would stop inflation becoming entrenched into the US economy.