Risk appetite on stock exchanges around the world has taken a double hit from concerns about the consequences of leadership turmoil at chip giant Nvidia and rising oil prices, which are pushing up market interest rates.
Wall Street closed lower on Thursday, while leading Asian exchanges were mixed overnight: up in Tokyo and Taiwan, but down in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul.
The price of North Sea oil (Brent) turned sharply higher on Thursday after President Donald Trump said the US does not need a peace deal with Iran. It continued to rise, gaining 0.2 percent to $96 per barrel in futures trading.
The Stockholm Stock Exchange's OMXS index fell 0.2 percent on Thursday and is up 11.2 percent since the start of the year.
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