World shares mixed, oil prices gain as EU, US mull sanctions

Benchmarks rose in Frankfurt, Tokyo and Sydney but fell in Paris and London. Many Asian markets including those in China were closed for holidays.

Russia’s withdrawal from areas near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, led to the discovery of corpses, prompting accusations of war crimes and demands for tougher sanctions on Moscow. Such moves add to uncertainty and could push up already high prices of oil and gas, among other commodities.

The invasion of Ukraine has elevated concerns about rising inflation and the impact on global economic growth. Prices for everything from food to clothing were already rising and the war has added to volatility for energy prices since Europe depends on Russia for a large share of its oil and gas.

European leaders have appeared split over how to respond to the latest developments Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron said new punitive measures were needed. Poland urged Europe to quickly wean itself off Russian energy, while Germany said it would stick with a gradual approach of phasing out coal and oil imports over the next several months.

U.S. crude climbed $1.59 to $104.87 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Brent crude was up $1.62 cents at $109.15 per barrel.

The price of U.S. benchmark crude jumped 4% on Monday and Brent crude, the standard for international pricing, rose 3%.

Germany’s DAX gained 0.1% to 14,536.78, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.6% to 6,689.80. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.2% to 7,545.38. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials slipped 0.2%.

In New York on Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.8%, the Dow gained 0.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.9%. The Russell 200 index of small caps picked up 0.2%.

In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.2% to 27,787.98 and the Kospi in Seoul eked out a 0.1% gain, to 2,759.20. The S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2% to 7,527.90. India’s Sensex slipped 0.1%.

Chinese markets were closed for Tomb Sweeping holidays, but many in the largest city, Shanghai, were under lockdowns due to a worsening coronavirus outbreak.

Shanghai recorded another 13,354 cases on Monday — the vast majority of them asymptomatic — bringing the city’s total to more than 73,000 since the latest wave of infections began last month.

Outbreaks in China and resulting restrictions on business and other activities could further worsen the slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.

The World Bank downgraded its 2022 growth forecast for the Asia-Pacific region to 5% from 5.4%, in part due to disruptions to supplies of commodities, financial strains and higher prices related to the war in Ukraine. That follows a rebound to 7.2% growth in 2021 after many economies experienced downturns with the onset of the pandemic.

The report issued Tuesday forecasts slower growth and rising poverty in the Asia-Pacific region this year as “multiple shocks” compound troubles for people and for businesses.

The Fed is due to release minutes from its last meeting on Wednesday.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was nearly unchanged at 122.79 Japanese yen. The euro climbed to $1.0984 from $1.0976.