Peter Nurse 

Investing.com: European stock markets will open lower on Friday due to signs that fighting in Ukraine has intensified. An attack on a nuclear power plant would increase fears about an environmental disaster and add to the human tragedy already occurring. 

2.30 AM ET (0700 GMT): The German contract traded 1.5% lower while France’s contract fell 1.2%, and that of the United Kingdom dropped 0.8%.

Russia has been accused of shelling Zaporizhia’s nuclear reactor, which is the most powerful in Europe, last week. Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister announced that he will call an emergency meeting for the United Nations Security Council in response to this attack.

Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Energy Secretary, stated that there were no signs of radiation at the plant. The plant generates more than half of Ukraine’s total electricity. Reuters reports that Russian forces captured the plant.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has set in motion a broader disruption of global energy markets that could severely hurt global growth for years to come, given Moscow’s significance in the production of crude and gas. 

“This is going to be a really big disruption in terms of logistics, and people are going to be scrambling for barrels,” said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit. “This is a supply crisis. It’s a logistics crisis. It’s a payment crisis, and this could well be on the scale of the 1970s.”

On Friday, oil prices rose due to the announcement of the. It is more probable that Europe and America will close the loophole that permits payment for continued uninterrupted supply. Russia is the biggest exporter of energy in the world.

Although the West has not yet taken any action against Russia for its oil and gas exports so far, many customers have opted to avoid them outright due to their fear of being ensnared in sanctions.

Futures were trading 1.4% higher at $109.22 per barrel by 2AM ET while contracts rose 1.2%, to $111.78. The futures and contract reached multi-year highs Thursday, but then experienced a sharp decline.

The Eurozone’s January data are expected later in Friday. However, the focus of the U.S. Monthly will remain on that month, which should show strong job growth.

The Federal Reserve would have the ability to raise interest rates in the next month. Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated on Thursday that he will support this during his second semi-annual testimony before Congress.

The price of gold rose 0.2% to $1.939.85/oz while it traded 0.4% lower at 1.1023.