China's anti-lockdown protests shake stocks and oil

SYDNEY/LONDON - Stocks and commodities prices suffered a broad sell-off on Monday as rare protests in major Chinese cities against the country's strict zero-COVID curbs hit growth expectations in the world's second-largest economy.

Clashes between police and protesters across several major cities over the weekend halted a tentative stocks rally that gathered pace last week as hope-starved markets had seized any morsel of good news.

Europe's benchmark STOXX index fell 0.9% in early trading after MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) fell 1.2% on selling in Chinese markets.

Oil prices, sensitive to the strictness of China’s lockdown as a barometer for demand, also slid. Brent crude dropped 3.1% to trade at $81.05 a barrel by 0950 GMT.

“Clearly the harsh China lockdowns have been impacting their consumer and business sentiment for some time and the persistent downgrades to China GDP have been consistent for well over a year now with further downgrades to come,” George Boubouras, executive direct of K2 Asset Management in Melbourne, said.

“Markets do not like uncertainty and investors will look for some clarification to China’s very harsh domestic lockdown protocols.”

Fears about Chinese economic growth hit other commodities markets, with copper and other metals also falling on the protests.

Australia’s benchmark stock index (.AXJO) closed 0.42% lower while its risk-sensitive currency was off more than 0.8%. Japan’s Nikkei stock index (.N225) fell 0.4%.

U.S. markets looked set to follow the bearish mood on Monday, with S&P 500 futures 0.8% lower. -