LONDON — Oil prices traded at five-month highs last week, with benchmark crude contract Brent North Sea rising above $116 a barrel, as the Middle East conflict raged on.

 

Global markets were contending "with concerns around surging oil prices and the sustainability of AI spending", noted AJ Bell's head of financial analysis Danni Hewson.

 

"Oil is at five-month highs amid speculation there may be renewed US-Israeli strikes after next month's US midterm elections.

 

"Escalating tensions in Ukraine and the prospect of increased energy demand as the northern hemisphere heads into the winter months are only adding to the upwards pressure on oil and gas prices," Hewson added.

 

Benchmark international oil contract Brent crude for December delivery rose as high as $116.73 per barrel, the highest since late April.

 

The benchmark US contract, WTI, rose above $102 per barrel.

 

Wall Street's main indices were mostly lower in morning trading, with the blue-chip Dow sinking nearly one per cent but the Nasdaq Composite adding 0.2 per cent as tech shares sought to recover some of this week's heavy losses.

 

"Today everyone appears to be rotating back into the stuff they rotated out of yesterday," Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading and investing platform IG.

 

"No one wants to be caught holding risk over the weekend," he added.

 

Stock markets mostly dropped in Europe following some poorly-received earnings from Gucci parent Kering and Swedish group Volvo Cars.

 

AI slump

 

Asian equity indices closed out the week mixed as technology firms managed to claw back some of the week's hefty losses.

 

Rising energy prices have influenced movements across stock markets in recent days along with developments in the AI sector.

 

Facebook parent Meta and chip equipment maker Lam Research saw their share prices dive this week despite above-forecast earnings for the pair.

 

"Strong results are no longer enough if the outlook fails to match an already demanding valuation," noted Fawad Razaqzada, a markets analyst at traders FOREX.com.

 

"Investors are becoming much less forgiving."

 

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index, which tracks the main stocks in the chip sector at the heart of the AI boom, was down more than five per cent for the week.

 

Non-AI companies have also seen their share prices slump this week.

 

Gucci firm down

 

Kering shed more than 16 per cent on Friday after the French luxury group published results that failed to reassure investors about a turnaround at its key Gucci brand.

 

Volvo Cars meanwhile plunged more than 24 per cent after it said US tariffs and strong competition from local brands in China pushed it into a third-quarter loss.

 

In response, the company announced a new five-billion-kronor savings plan it said would lead to about 2,000 job cuts in Sweden and 500 more globally.

 

Aside from energy markets, AI and earnings next week, focus will fall firmly on interest-rate meetings for the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, as well as an update on US economic growth data.