LONDON, 6 August 2003 — World oil prices surged to a new post-Iraq war high yesterday as a huge car bomb tore through a top hotel in Indonesia and Iraq said it had no date set to restart exporting crude from its northern fields. International benchmark Brent crude oil rose 51 cents to $30.04 a barrel, its highest level since mid-March, before the US attacked Iraq. US light crude climbed 48 cents to $32.32.
Meanwhile, stocks declined yesterday in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 65.82 points, or 0.72 percent, at 9,120.22. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was off 8.67 points, or 0.88 percent, at 974.15. The technology-laden NASDAQ Composite Index sagged 23.99 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,690.07.
European stock markets closed higher yesterday.
The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares gained 0.51 percent to 4,121.0 points, the German DAX 30 climbed 0.97 percent to 3,438.36 points and the French CAC 40 firmed 1.45 percent to 3,187.61 points. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of top euro-zone issues rose 1.04 percent to 2,481.77 points.
Asian stock markets were mixed yesterday. In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng index lost 5.76 points to close at 10,177.38, on turnover of 9.47 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.2 billion).
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Nikkei-225 average lost 70.21 points to end the session at 9,382.58 while the Topix index of all first-section shares fell 9.05 points to 925.47.