all prices as of 1828 gmt global  oil prices soared again on thursday as the ukraine war sparked a run on commodities that raised fears of stagflation and stocks on wall street and in europe fell as investors hoped central banks will be prudent as they move to tighten monetary policy in europe the panregional stoxx 600 index stoxx lost 183 while mscis gauge of stocks across the globe miwd00000pus shed 079 new york  megacap growth stocks dragged the nasdaq and sp 500 lower on thursday as investors worried that soaring commodity prices due to the ukraine crisis will add to inflationary pressures at 1037 am et the dow jones industrial average dji was down 2203 points or 006 at 3386932 and the sp 500 spx was down 1304 points or 030 at 437350 the nasdaq composite ixic was down 13035 points or 095 at 1362167 london  european shares closed sharply lower on thursday as concerns over the impact of mounting sanctions against russia weighed on sentiment even as a relentless rally in commodity prices boosted mining stocks the europewide stoxx 600 index stoxx slipped 20 having given up modest gains soon after the open travel sxtp and retail stocks sxrp led a broadbased decline tokyo  japans nikkei share average ended higher on thursday tracking an overnight wall steet rally after us federal reserve chair jerome powell signalled a less aggressive pace of interest rate hikes than investors had feared the nikkei share average n225 added 070 to 2657727 after rising as much as 118 in the morning session of the 225 stocks on the index 186 rose 38 fell and one ended flat shanghai  china stocks closed lower on thursday as investor appetite was dampened after a survey showed services sector activity in february had expanded at the slowest pace in six months amid the governments tough containment measures to tackle the pandemic the bluechip csi300 index csi300 was down 06 at 455163 while the shanghai composite index ssec dropped 01 to 348111 points australia  australian shares rose for a fifth straight session on thursday driven by mining and energy stocks on back of strong commodity prices and as global equities rebounded after the us federal reserve chairman assuaged worries about aggressive rate hikes the spasx 200 index axjo ended 05 higher at 71514 rising 23 since its near 3 drop on feb 24 seoul  south korean shares ended at a threeweek high on thursday following overnight wall street gains after us federal reserve chairman jerome powells remarks assuaged fears of aggressive rate hikes the benchmark kospi ks11 ended up 4356 points or 161 at 274708 rallying for a fourth straight session to close at its highest since feb 11 new york  the euro extended recent declines against sterling and the dollar on thursday as investors worried about the impact of rising oil prices after russias invasion of ukraine while the us dollar index edged higher with weekly us jobless claim data suggesting the labor market was gaining steam the us dollar index was last up 04  and the dollar was up slightly against the yen  shanghai  chinas yuan inched up against the dollar on thursday as investors shifted their attention to the annual parliamentary gathering for more clues on the economic agenda in the spot market onshore yuan opened at 63181 per dollar and was changing hands at 63183 at midday 27 pips firmer than the previous late session close australia  the australian dollar sped to a fouryear high on the euro on thursday as monster gains in commodity prices looked set to shower exporters in cash and europe desperately sought replacements for russian supplies flows from the euro helped the aussie hold firm at 07291  after touching a sixweek peak of 07306 overnight seoul  the korean won strengthened while the benchmark bond yield rose on thursday the won closed at 12046 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform  012 higher than its previous close new york  us treasury yields gained on thursday before federal reserve chairman jerome powell will give his second day of testimony to congress after saying on wednesday that he supports the us central bank raising rates this month benchmark 10year yields rose 3 basis points on thursday to 1896 after getting as high as 1910 on wednesday they fell as low as 1682 on tuesday the lowest since jan 5 london  german government bond yields steadied after rising on thursday as markets again upgraded their forecasts for interest rate hikes by the european central bank germanys inflationlinked rates rose 4 bps to 2133 after hitting a record low on wednesday at 2239  tokyo  japanese government bonds on thursday joined a rebound in yields led by treasuries after federal reserve chair jerome powell removed some uncertainty on the us policy outlook adopting a measured stance towards rate hikes starting this month the 10year jgb yield was up 35 basis points to 0165 as of 0443 gmt recovering from wednesdays low of 0130 a level unseen since jan 21 palladium extended gains to a more than sevenmonth high on thursday spurred by concerns over supply shortages following harsh sanctions on topproducer russia while the ukraine crisis and soaring inflation lifted demand for safehaven gold spot prices of palladium  used by automakers in catalytic converters to curb emissions rose 32 to 2754 by 1203 pm est 1703 gmt after hitting its highest since midjuly 2021 earlier in the session spot gold was up 03 at 193105 per ounce us gold futures rose 05 to 193210 benchmark dalian and singapore iron ore futures surged on thursday buoyed by growing hopes of improved demand for the steelmaking ingredient in china after reports of a possible easing of covid19 curbs in the worlds top steel producer the mosttraded may iron ore contract on chinas dalian commodity exchange ended daytime trading 68 higher at 79750 yuan 12627 a tonne after soaring as much as 97 to its highest since feb 11 prices of aluminium copper and nickel raced to fresh highs on thursday as widening sanctions on russia for its weeklong invasion of ukraine threatened to further disrupt the flow of commodities from the major producer threemonth nickel on the london metal exchange lme rose to its highest level since april 2011 at 27976 a tonne by 1730 gmt it was up 54 at 27300 copper climbed 17 to 10323 per tonne oil steadied after hitting prices not seen in roughly a decade on thursday as sellers jumped in on hopes that the united states and iran will agree soon to a nuclear deal that could add barrels to a badly undersupplied market brent futures rose 61 cents or 05 to 11354 a barrel by 1123 am est 1723 gmt while us west texas intermediate wti crude rose 15 cents or 01 to 11075 malaysian palm oil futures rose on thursday hovering near record highs on expectations that buyers would turn to the tropical oil to compensate for limited black sea sunflower oil following supply disruptions due to the russiaukraine crisis the benchmark palm oil contract for may delivery on the bursa malaysia derivatives exchange closed up 125 ringgit or 188 to 6785 ringgit 162146 a tonne up for a third session in four japanese rubber futures ended nearly flat on thursday as fears of global inflation countered expectations that soaring oil prices may encourage a shift to natural rubber from synthetic rubber