Oil price surges higher on Syria fears as markets slide

PanARMENIAN.Net - The possibility of military action against Syria has continued to shake up markets. While the price of oil surged higher on Wednesday, August 28 share markets have fallen, BBC News said.

The price of gold has also climbed, as risk-averse investors look for safe-havens, while shares in airlines dropped on the looming threat of higher fuel costs.

Brent crude oil hit a six-month high above $117 a barrel, and has risen by 4% this week. US crude oil touched its highest price since May 2011, rising to $110.17 a barrel.

International Airlines Group, the owner of British Airways, saw its share price fall around 5%, while Easyjet's share price also fell, by 4%.

European share markets all fell on Wednesday morning. The UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.4% while Germany's Dax dropped 1.0% and the Cac40 in Paris fell 0.2%.

Asian stock markets fell on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Australia's ASX 200 all seeing losses of more than 1%.

Syria itself is not a major oil producer, but analysts said that the prospect of further instability in the Middle East was worrying investors.