Oil Soars And US Equities Drop As Geopolitical Tensions Reach Breaking Point

Brent crude has risen 7% over the last week to $72.3 a barrel, the highest since December 2014 while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) climbed 3.3% to $65.5 a barrel on Wednesday.

The main drivers of the increase in prices is concerns future US involvement in the Middle East could disrupt supply chains, making it harder to ship overseas.

Trump cancelled his trip to a number of South American countries to meet with military officials in the White House on Monday to talk over the US's response to the alleged chemical attack from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while the US President has also warned Russia to stop supporting Assad claiming the US relationship with Russia is at its worst point in history, including the Cold War.

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Trump said on Twitter: "Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and "smart"! You should not be partners with a gas killing animal who kills his people and enjoys it!"

The increasing geopolitical tensions has pushed investors into safe haven assets with gold climbing 1.8% to $1,363 an ounce, its highest level since January.

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This has largely been driven by the US sanctions imposed on Russia last Friday which targeted seven of the country's richest men as well as 17 government officials.

In US equity markets, the Dow Jones felt the pinch of the tensions falling 0.9% to 24,189 points on Wednesday while the S&P 500 also dropped 0.6% to 2,642 points.

Asian markets were also down in overnight trading with the Hang Seng down 0.8% to 30,643 points.