Markets jitter: gold, Asia slump, oil flows
Gold slid more than 1% after Houthi attacks on shipping stoked inflation worries and dimmed early hopes for Fed cuts, while Brent is eyeing a record monthly rise amid tighter supply sentiment (x.com). Asian stocks dropped on Gulf-conflict spillover and recession fears, and reports say the US is allowing Russian oil shipments to Cuba despite sanctions — a move adding geopolitical complexity to markets ( ).
Spot gold was trading near $4,470.31 per ounce on March 30, reflecting roughly a 16% drop over the past month on contract-for-difference measures. (tradingeconomics.com) Bullion recorded its steepest weekly rout since 1983—about an 11% one‑week loss—and investors pulled more than $7 billion from the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) in March. (bloomberg.com 1) (bloomberg.com 2) Brent crude was trading around $115.33 a barrel on March 30 and had surged about 59% for the month, a monthly jump Reuters said exceeded the rise after Iraq’s 1990 invasion. (money.usnews.com) Near‑term oil markets show acute tightness: the six‑month Brent calendar spread hit roughly $25.43 per barrel on March 9, the widest backwardation on record, while Goldman Sachs raised its 2026 Brent average forecast to $85 a barrel. (thetradable.com) (kitco.com) Japan’s Nikkei futures were trading around 50,870 on March 30 versus Friday’s close of 53,373, and Australia’s ASX 200 fell about 1.3% in early trade as regional risk aversion rose. (money.usnews.com) (abc.net.au) Global investors have pulled roughly $52 billion from emerging‑Asia equities since the Iran war began, and that outflow pressure has been concentrated in oil‑import dependent markets such as Taiwan, South Korea and India. (bloomberg.com) The Russia‑flagged tanker Anatoly Kolodkin has entered Cuban waters carrying an estimated 650,000–730,000 barrels of crude, and U.S. officials have signalled they will allow the vessel to berth — a shipment that could supply Cuba’s thermoelectric plants for about a week at ~100,000 barrels per day. (bloomberg.com) (rferl.org)
