Wheat and nickel prices hit record highs

Wheat and nickel futures rose to record highs after Russia intensified shelling of Ukrainian cities two weeks after President Vladimir Putin's troops invaded Ukraine.

Wheat futures rose as much as 5.4 percent in early trade Tuesday to $13.63 a bushel before retracing, falling 2 percent, according to data from Bloomberg.

The benchmark nickel contract rose more than 13 percent to a record high of $57,000 a tonne, according to Reuters, after rising more than 70 percent to $50,300 in the previous trading session.

The conflict in Eastern Europe has roiled world markets, sending commodity and energy prices to record highs, which threatens to push up inflation and drive up the cost of producing essential materials.

Ukraine and Russia account for almost a third of global wheat exports, sparking concerns about food shortages and sending prices soaring since the war began almost two weeks ago.

Oil prices rose after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz indicated Berlin would hesitate to ban Russian imports, which he sees as "essential" to the European economy.

The comments followed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying Washington was in talks with European allies to ban Russian crude imports, sending international benchmark Brent up 18 percent to $139 a barrel on Monday.

In Asian trading on Tuesday, Brent rose 1.6 percent to $125.18 a barrel after rising more than 4 percent in the previous session. US brand West Texas Intermediate was up 1.3 percent at $120.93.

European natural gas prices also rose about 5 percent to €215.50 per megawatt-hour after rising as much as 40 percent on Monday.

The threat of a ban on Russian oil unsettled Wall Street, sending the S&P 500 down nearly 3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite down 3.6 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50 fell more than 1 percent as Moscow warned of "catastrophic consequences" of an oil blockade.

Futures predicted European stocks would fall further on the back of the US sell-off, with the Euro Stoxx 50 expected to fall 1.4 percent. The S&P 500 is likely to fall 0.2 percent as Wall Street opens.

Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Tuesday, with China's leading index, the CSI 300, slipping 1.7 percent and Japan's Topix index slipping 1.5 percent.

Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said a US ban of some form is becoming increasingly likely, but "the devil is in the details".

A blockade on Russia's energy exports would push Brent to around $160 a barrel and "energy prices would stay higher for longer as it would take time for supply to fill the gap," she added.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro confirmed that his government has held talks with senior US officials. It was the first high-level meeting between the two countries since diplomatic ties broke in 2019. The talks came as US President Joe Biden's administration is scrambling to find alternative energy supplies if sanctions imposed on Russia are tightened.