FYI: U.S. stock futures dropped Monday morning amid fears that a surge in oil prices following an attack in Saudi Arabia could slow down global economic growth.
As of 1:20 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 146 points, implying a loss of more than 150 points at Monday’s open. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were also down.
That would be the first decline in nine days for the Dow, which had climbed back to within 1% from a record on Friday.
European stocks fall, Asia mixed
• Haven assets rise
• Oil prices give up some of their gains
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped as much as 19.5% to $71.95 a barrel, one of its largest intraday gains in years, and was recently trading up 8.6% at $65.39 a barrel.
The rise came after attacks on Saudi oil production facilities Saturday, which knocked out 5.7 million barrels of daily production. The kingdom is racing to restore roughly one-third of the disrupted production by day’s end Monday.
On Sunday, President Trump said he authorized the release of oil, if needed, from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help offset cost increases. The U.S. holds about 600 million barrels of emergency crude products, said Oswald Clint, a senior analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
Gold was up 0.8% and the Japanese yen rose 0.2% against the U.S. dollar.
The currencies of oil-producing countries strengthened against the U.S. dollar, with the Russian ruble up 0.8%, the Norwegian krone up 0.4% and the Canadian dollar up 0.2%.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.6%, with losses spread across most regional indexes. An exception was Norway’s Oslo All-Share, which rose 0.8%.
Air France-KLM fell 4.4% on the oil price surge. The airline is less hedged than other legacy carriers, said Alex Irving, a chartered financial analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. In hedging, carriers enter into future contracts that lock in the price of oil, shielding them from short-term volatility.
In Asia, regional equity markets proved relatively resilient. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% and the Shanghai Composite was flat. The Japanese stock market was closed for a holiday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.1% after another weekend of violent protests, although shares in Chinese oil companies such as Cnooc Ltd. and PetroChina Co. rallied.
Regards,
Ted
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-stock-futures-retreat-as-oil-prices-jump-11568603822Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-15/yen-gains-after-saudi-oil-attack-oil-set-to-rise-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-crude-oil-prices-saudi-attack-uaw-gm-strike-apple-iphone-preorders/CNBC::
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/15/dow-set-to-fall-on-fears-spiking-oil-will-slow-the-global-economy.htmlReuters:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trade-japan/united-states-to-pledge-not-to-raise-tariffs-on-japanese-cars-report-idUKKBN1W10IWU.K.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-100-drops-on-weak-china-data-soaring-crude-prices-lift-oil-majors-idUKKBN1W10M9Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/european-stocks-suffer-from-saudi-attacks-but-oil-firms-soar-idUSKBN1W10L7Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-mostly-fall-as-crude-prices-soar-2019-09-15/printBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/13/us-treasury-yields-mixed-after-ecb-cuts-rates.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/16/forex-markets-saudi-oil-plant-attacks-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/15/us-crude-oil-jumps-15percent-after-drone-strikes-disrupt-saudi-crude-production.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/16/gold-markets-attacks-on-saudi-oil-plants-in-focus.htmlCuirrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
