Houthis Target Saudi Oil Sites, Sending Brent to $111
Brent slipped 0.3% on Monday as Russia sanctions eased, but it is climbing again this morning. The Houthis said Monday they targeted Aramco's Yanbu facility, the Shaybah oilfield and King Khalid Airport in Riyadh. Saudi authorities have not confirmed the claims, and Reuters could not verify them independently.
December Brent rose 1.7% to $111.41 as of 6:45 a.m. ET, after touching $111.75, its highest since May. November WTI, which expires today, jumped as much as 5.7% on short covering. The risk is no longer confined to the Strait of Hormuz; it now reaches Saudi production sites.
The losses in futures are concentrated in tech. As of 7:06 a.m. ET, CoreWeave was down 4.7%, Nebius 4.9% and Apple 1.2%, according to Reuters. CoreWeave has lost 30% this month as worries over debt-funded AI infrastructure return.
The Nvidia news is positive, but the stock is not reacting. Reuters reported that ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent ordered more than 3 million RTX PRO 5500 cards worth over $35B. Nvidia has not guaranteed it can fill them, deliveries start in the first quarter of 2027, and the stock is down 0.3% premarket.
No major earnings came after Monday's (October 19) close; this morning's results were strong in defense and aerospace. RTX earned $2.26 a share against a $1.78 estimate, and sales rose 11% to $25B. It raised its full-year profit guidance to $7.65-$7.75, its backlog hit a record $340B, and the stock is up 2.2%.
