As if investors in the Middle East didn't have enough political uncertainty at the moment. The oil markets were hit with further jitters this morning on the back of an unsubstanitated rumour surrounding the health of the Saudi Arabian monarch.

While the story has been denied by the Saudi Arabian government, the report nevertheless had a noticeable effect, as this graph of today's trading levels for Brent crude in the spot market shows. Oil prices moved by nearly a dollar before recovering later in the day.