Oil prices jumped 3 per cent to $US120/barrel, a level not seen since early in the US/Iran war.
That has seen risk assets like shares put under pressure, with key US indices all falling on Friday and the ASX set to follow today.
Follow the day's financial news and insights from our specialist business reporters on our live blog.
Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.
Prices current at around 7:00am AEDT
Choose what information you see below by using filters
Wall Street's major indices all closed lower on Friday, although it wasn't AI stocks doing all the damage this time.
Global oil prices jumping another 3% to their highest level since April certainly helped fuel the general retreat.
Tech stocks were among the steadier performers amid widespread wobbles.
The Nasdaq's narrow loss was an improvement on Thursday's dump when the index endured is biggest fall since June as investors continued to fret about spending and investment returns in the sector.
Those anxieties remain, it's just that oil and inflation were the session's bigger worries
The S & P 500 energy sector, however, was resolute, gaining another 2.5% to another record high as key oil indices rose to levels last seen early in the US/Iran war.
That wave of worry will again likely wash up on our shores with futures trading pointing to a 0.5% decline on the ASX 200 this morning.
For the week, the S & P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.7%. The blue-chip Dow rose 0.4%, its third straight weekly gain.
Telecommunications stocks fell again on Friday , weighing on the communication services sector, after a report that SpaceX was seeking thousands of cell sites for a fourth wireless carrier.
Shares of AT & T and T-Mobile both sank nearly 8% while Verizon shed 1.2%. SpaceX shares rose 1.9%. US cell tower operators gained, with Crown Castle up 9% and American Tower up 4%.
Data from the University of Michigan showed US consumer sentiment edged down near a record low in October , as rising prices because of the Middle East conflict soured households' views of the economy.
Market focus remains on the earnings season, with robust corporate profit growth underpinning gains for major equity indexes this year.
S & P 500 companies are on track to have increased earnings by more than 32% in the third quarter , according to LSEG IBES data.
This week, about one-third of S & P 500 companies report quarterly results, including Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon, three AI hyperscalers whose capital spending forecasts will be closely watched by investors.
US Treasury yields rose, a day after the benchmark 10-year yield saw its biggest one-day drop in nearly four years but remained around the 5% mark.
Gold fell to a three-month low as higher energy prices fuelled inflation concerns and reinforced US rate hike expectations ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.
It gave up 4% over the week, and is now below $US4,000/ounce for the first time since July. The move also signalled a break from gold's usual positive correlation with oil.
Good morning and welcome to another day on the ABC markets and finance blog.
Stephen Letts from ABC business team limbering up for a blow-by-blow coverage of the day's events, where every post is hopefully a winner, but none should be construed as financial advice.
Wall Street closed lower again on Friday, dragged down by rising oil prices and anxieties about inflation.
Futures trading points to the ASX 200 slipping around 0.5% on opening.
The game's afoot, so let's get blogging.
