Oil Jumps to Two-Year High, Gold Reaches $1,400 on Mideast; Stocks Decline

Stephen Kirkland
Bloomberg
Feb 21, 2011

Oil rose to a two-year high and gold rallied for a sixth day surpassing $1,400 an ounce, as tension in the Middle East escalated. Stocks fell for the most in a month as Eni SpA led companies with operations in Libya lower.

Brent crude gained as much as 2.5 percent, trading up 2.4 percent at 10:40 a.m. in New York. Gold climbed 1.1 percent and silver added 3.4 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 1.3 percent, with Eni sinking the most since July 2009 on a closing basis.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.8 percent. Bahrain’s 2020 bond yield increased for a 10th day after S&P cut its debt rating. The New Zealand dollar strengthened against its major peers. U.S. markets were closed for the Presidents’ Day holiday.

Libyan security forces attacked anti-government protesters as demonstrations spread across the Middle East and North Africa, a region that accounts for 36 percent of global crude output. Chinese authorities blocked foreign news reports on protests across the country to stamp out any movement toward pro-democracy revolts.

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