Stock prices fall on allied setbacks

SETBACKS on the battlefield for Anglo-American forces in Iraq were mirrored on world stock exchanges yesterday when stock prices fell after a week of almost unimpaired upward movement.

Unsure about the pace of the war, investors retreated from stock markets and in an about-turn from last week, plunged their money into safe-haven investments like gold and bonds, which rose in price as the price of oil also jumped.

The US dollar was another casualty of the war as the near instantaneous reporting of developments in Iraq reduced confidence among the financial community that this would be a quick war.