Some of the early positive sentiment ebbed, with a pan-European equity index and German shares ceding some earlier gains to stand 0.7% and 1.7% higher respectively by 1200 GMT.
Brent crude futures fell $4 a barrel and European gas prices were at 120 euros per megawatt-hour, almost 100 euros below recent peaksEarlier in Asia, the mood was more subdued after a jump in coronavirus cases prompted the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to tighten curbs. With cases still rising across China, lockdowns spell bad news for global supply chains, already under stress from the Ukraine war, with shortages of crude oil, industrial metals, semiconductor components, and other key items.“The improvement in global supply chains has ended before it ever really began,” ING Bank economists Inga Fechner and Rico Luman told clients.Bonds remained under pressure as surging commodity prices fanned fears of an acceleration in inflation.