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- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
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- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
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- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
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- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
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- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
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- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
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- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
Asian markets edge up, oil extends gains with focus on Ukraine
Asian equities mostly edged up Wednesday as three days of painful losses gave way to a semblance of stability, though oil prices extended gains after the United States and Britain moved to ban imports of Russian crude.
But while the panic selling that characterised markets for two weeks eased, analysts warned of further volatility as Russia showed no sign of letting up on its invasion of Ukraine.
The crisis has fuelled fears that the fragile global recovery from Covid-19 will be replaced by a period of stagflation, in which inflation surges and economies flatline or contract.
A crucial driver of equity selling has been rocketing commodities prices.
Crude is the main worry as the removal of Russia's output will compound an already tight market. Russia is the world's third-biggest oil producer.
Wheat and metals including nickel have already hit record highs.
Warnings that US President Joe Biden would put an embargo on imports from Russia sent Brent prices soaring to as high as $139 Monday -- about $8 short of a 2008 record -- before they retreated.
However, confirmation of the ban Tuesday, and news that Britain would join by the end of the year, sent the black gold roaring up again.
EU nations, which receive roughly 40 percent of their gas imports and one quarter of their oil from Russia, instead opted to set a goal of cutting their Russian gas imports by two-thirds.
In morning trade Wednesday the contract was sitting at around $129, while WTI was hovering around $125.
The announcement also shot a hole in a rally on Wall Street, with all three main indexes ending in the red.
However, most of Asia squeezed out some gains, helped by a little bargain-buying.
Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Manila, Jakarta and Wellington all rose, though Hong Kong dipped.
- Gold edges towards record -
There was a little support from comments by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, who in an apparent nod to Moscow said he was no longer pressing for NATO membership.
He also said he was open to "compromise" on the status of two breakaway pro-Russian territories that Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised as independent just before unleashing the invasion.
"I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that... NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine," Zelensky said in an interview aired Monday night on ABC News.
"The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia."
Putin has demanded Kyiv give up its desire to join NATO and recognise the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk.
"Markets remain volatile, unable to confidently price implications from the news flow given the complex state of the global economy," said National Australia Bank's Rodrigo Catril.
"Signs of a potential compromise coming from Ukraine's president are now confronted with the reality that even if a compromise is reached, consequences from sanctions are adding another layer to supply constraint issues, logistics and many tight commodity markets, including oil, nickel, gas and so on."
Safe-haven gold is closing in on a record high as investors rush for a hedge against soaring inflation. The yellow metal rose as high as $2,069.25 Tuesday before easing slightly.
Adding to the upward pressure was news that a cross-party group of US senators had put forward a bill to impose secondary sanctions on anyone buying or selling Russian gold, a move aimed at preventing Moscow liquidating its holdings to support the collapsing ruble.
Gold was already rising in recent weeks as inflation roared to a 40-year high in the United States, forcing the Federal Reserve to start lifting interest rates, which had been acting as a dampener on world markets.
And commentators still expect rates to rise despite the economic hit from the Ukraine war.
"The Fed doesn't seem to be getting a break in terms of the inflation problem that they are trying to solve by raising these rates, so it doesn't look likely that we'll see a less aggressive Fed over the next year or so," JoAnne Feeney, of Advisors Capital Management, told Bloomberg Television.
- Key figures around 0230 GMT -
Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.1 percent at $130.69 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.8 percent at $125.91
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 24,973.73 (break)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 20,714.67
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,300.89
Dollar/yen: UP at 115.85 yen from 115.69 yen on Tuesday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0919 from $1.0895
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3116 from $1.3096
Euro/pound: UP at 83.26 pence from 83.17 pence
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 32,632.64 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 6,964.11 (close)
G.M.Castelo--PC