Oil dives as Iran strike threat disappears

Chris Beauchamp IG

Tech and small caps have led the way on Wall Street, while oil prices slump on receding geopolitical threats, says Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at investing and trading platform IG.

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The January rally has moved back into high gear today, after roughly 48 hours of mixed trading on Wall Street around somewhat disappointing bank earnings. Today has seen US small caps hit a new record high even as tech stocks recover following TSMC’s numbers, while the FTSE 100’s progress above 10,000 continues uninterrupted. 2026 has started on a resoundingly bullish note, and with today’s US jobless claims dropping below 200K there is renewed hope that the US is entering a goldilocks scenario for the economy. A fresh drop for the Vix suggests that the benign scenario for equities will remain in place for the time being.

Oil prices slump as Iran attack threat disappears

There were apparently firm indications of US action over the skies of Iran last night, but in the end nothing materialised. Once more this has been the cue for a wave of selling in crude oil. Just as the rally has revived in stocks, it looks like supply glut fears and an absence of geopolitical worries are back to drive crude prices lower.

Author

Chris Beauchamp

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