Global markets plunge as oil surges above $120

The official price of Oman Crude for May delivery settled on Monday at $124.68 per barrel. This represents a substantial increase of $24.37 compared to last Friday closing price of $100.31.
It is noteworthy that the monthly average price of Omani crude for March delivery 2026 stood at $62.17 per barrel, reflecting a marginal gain of 8 cents compared to the February delivery price.
Meanwhile, bonds across the globe sank on Monday as ​a rapidly worsening US-Israeli war with Iran briefly pushed oil ​prices near $120, heightening investor fears over inflation which they bet may prompt European central banks to hike rates this year.
Brent crude prices soared as much as 28 per cent to almost $120 per barrel - their highest since July 2022 and were last up 14 per cent at around $105. The war is keeping the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, virtually shut.
'Today is much more like in panic mode,' said Lyn Graham-Taylor, senior rates strategist at ⁠Rabobank in London.
Investors are 'purely pricing in a focus from central banks on the inflation side of an energy supply shock. There's relatively limited pricing in of ⁠the downside from the perspective of GDP,' he said.
The spectre of rising inflation and the possibility of central banks needing to keep rates higher for longer or even hiking them has meant the safe-haven allure of bonds is being overlooked in the conflict.
On Monday, government bond yields surged further as prices tumbled, adding to last week's dramatic moves.
Investors moved to price in as much as ‌two rate hikes from the European Central Bank by year-end, a huge turnaround from February, when ​the risk was another rate cut. — Agencies