Oil prices rose today as investors remained anxious the war in Iraq could drag on but the dollar held firm and European stocks opened lower.
Markets kept their focus on the war as US planes and missiles targeted Iraqi state television in Baghdad and pounded positions held by Republican Guards defending the approaches to the city. Safe-haven gold and government bonds were steady.
Oil prices rose, reversing the previous day's losses on concern the war could go on for a long time but with the market also focusing on the impact on supply of ethnic violence in Nigeria.
Clashes in Nigeria between the Ijaw ethnic group and the military ahead of elections have removed 817,000 barrels per day of crude from global markets.
US May light crude futures rose 58 cents to $28.55 a barrel while Brent crude for May was 57 cents higher at $25.38 a barrel.
In the US, unconfirmed reports of the uprising in Basra buoyed sentiment. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial average closed 0.8 per cent higher while the tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite ended up 1.55 per cent.
The bounce on Wall Street helped propel Tokyo stocks higher as investors snapped up battered shares such as NTT DoCoMo snd selling eased ahead of the fiscal year end on March 31st.
The Nikkei average ended up 1.37 per cent while the broader TOPIX index closed 1.13 per cent higher.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips was down 0.71 per cent, reversing opening gains, while the narrower DJ Euro STOXX 50 index was off 1.06 per cent.