Brent crude crossed $100 per barrel for the first time since May, driven by a combination of Houthi attacks on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea and a near-standstill in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Escalating rhetoric between Tehran and Washington has added a risk premium on top of the physical supply disruption. The two chokepoints affected, the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, together handle a substantial share of global seaborne oil trade.
Oil above $100 raises input costs across almost every sector, from airlines and industrials to consumer goods companies that depend on freight and petrochemicals. Energy stocks and oil ETFs benefit directly, but the broader equity market tends to struggle when crude stays elevated because higher energy costs squeeze corporate margins and compress consumer spending power. Bond markets face pressure too, since sustained oil prices feed into headline inflation and push back the timeline for central bank rate cuts.
Next US CPI report, ~mid-January. Next OPEC+ production monitoring meeting, expected late January. Any US or UK military response announcement in the Red Sea region.
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