Global energy crunch stokes recovery fears

Authorities from China to India are scrambling to fill a power supply gap.

And on Tuesday (October 12) it rattled global stock and bond markets.

With fresh worries that rising energy costs will stoke inflation and curtail an economic recovery.

Power prices have surged to record highs in recent weeks, driven by energy shortages in Asia, Europe and the U.S..

The impact of supply crunches in power and manufacturing components is being felt.

Data Tuesday (October 12) showed Japanese wholesale inflation hit 13-year highs last month.

While shoppers in Britain have slashed spending.

And China recorded a 20% drop in car sales.

In its latest attempt to deal with the crisis, Beijing said it would further liberalise coal-fired power pricing.

And force industrial and commercial consumers to buy from the market.

A widening power crunch has forced production curbs across China in industries such as cement and steel.

In India, the power ministry warned states that federal energy producers will curtail supply to them.

That's if their utilities are found selling power on exchanges to take advantage of surging prices.

Asia's third-largest economy is facing large-scale outages as several power plants have low coal inventories.

Oil rose towards $84 a barrel on Tuesday, within sight of a three-year high.

While coal has scaled record peaks and gas prices remain four times higher in Europe than at the start of the year.