Oil and gas down and stocks up on hope of the war's nearing end
The Brent barrel falls to $85 and the price of natural gas also falls sharply, more than 17%, to 46 euros
The price of the Brent crude oil barrel – the benchmark in Europe – started this Tuesday with a drop of more than 6%, settling around 92 dollars, after Donald Trump's statements in which he speculated that the war in Iran could end soon. On Monday, the cost of the crude oil barrel had soared by almost 29%, reaching close to 120 dollars – a maximum not seen since 2022, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine – and finally closed the day with a rebound of 6.76%.
During this Tuesday, the Brent crude oil barrel continued to fall to around $85, with a decrease of nearly 15%. Natural gas prices also opened Tuesday's session with a sharp drop of over 16%, settling at 46.16 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh). This trend continued throughout the day, and the price of natural gas in the TTF market in the Netherlands – the benchmark in Europe – fell by up to 17%, settling at 46.40 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh). On Monday, the cost of natural gas had surged by 30%, reaching 69 euros.
The Ibex 35 rebounds to 17,445 points
Markets began the day with optimism. The Ibex 35 opened with a rise of 2.34% which broke the trend of recent red sessions, recovering 17,300 points. In fact, it closed the session with an advance of 3.05% to reach 17,445 points. The turn in oil prices and markets has favored heavily punished stocks since the start of the war in Iran. For example, companies like IAG –airline holding–, which rebounded 5.13%, or ArcelorMittal (7.41%) and Solaria (4.75%).
Banks have contributed to this advance of the Ibex: Santander rose 5.73%, BBVA 4.77%, and Banco Sabadell 4.10%. On the contrary, this change in trend has triggered a correction for Repsol, which lost 1.05%.
The rest of the European stock exchanges have followed the same direction: in London, the FTSE-100 index climbed 1.59%; in Frankfurt, the DAX, 2.39%; in Paris, the CAC-40, 1.79%, and in Milan, the FTSE MIB, 2.67%.
Asian markets, for their part, have also recovered their green numbers. In Japan, the Nikkei recorded an increase of 2.88%; in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index registered a rise of 2.17%, and the South Korean Kospi rose 5.35%.
Regarding the foreign exchange market, the fall in oil prices also affects the dollar's quotation. The euro recovers its level of 1.16 dollars. And precious gold takes advantage of the dollar's decline to once again exceed 5,200 dollars per ounce.