Oil prices rose and US stocks retreated further in another choppy day on Wall Street after US President Joe Biden announced a ban on imports of Russian oil and gas.
Brent crude settled 3.9 per cent higher at $127.98 on Tuesday after Biden stepped up economic sanctions on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine, a move matched by the UK. Wall Street stocks hit fresh closing lows after the announcement — ending the day at the lowest level since 2021 — after recording on Monday their biggest single-day decline since October 2020.
The blue-chip S&P 500 index, which closed almost 3 per cent lower on Monday, ended down 0.7 per cent on the day at its lowest level since June 2021. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3 per cent, its worst close since March 2021. Neither index hit the intraday lows plumbed on February 24.