It's been a volatile week for U.S. and global markets following the rapid changes in oil prices that were the result of the drone attacks to the Saudi Arabian oil production facility.
The S&P 500 (SPY) has been moving along with the oil price trends, due to the fact that oil prices affect many sectors and commodities in terms of stock prices. Many investors have been responding to the mixed news of whether or not the Saudi Abqaiq plant and Khurais oil field will be back to normal production within weeks or months. The country's Energy Minister stated that the company should be up to per attack levels by the end of September. Saudi oil production has lost 5.7 million barrels of oil a day because of the attack, which is 5% of the world's oil supply.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ) has also been responding to the volatile shifts in oil prices this week. Gasoline ETF has seen spikes after the oil attacks, as well as energy ETFs that are heavily affected by changes in prices. According to oil analyst Andy Lipow, U.S. gas prices will increase by about 20 cents per gallon in the next few days because of the reduced oil production by Saudi Arabia. This will likely push the national price-per-gallon average to above $2.70 over the coming days. This price increase will surely affect more stock prices within Nasdaq ETFs.
Consumer Discretionary Sector (XLY) has been down at the start of this week, mostly reflecting lower earnings results and the affect oil prices have across the market. Stocks such as General Motors (NYSE: GM) have been affected recently by union strikes, reducing investor confidence in future profits due to daily loss of production. Other automotive stocks like Ford (NYSE: F) will soon be affected by raising manufacturing costs that come with new union contracts.
Oil Futures on Monday marked the sharpest daily rise in more than a decade, which was such a shock that global markets are still attempting to stabilize and accurately respond. Brent crude, which is a global indicator, jumped to $8.80, or an increase of 14.6%. Its current trade price is just under $70 a barrel, which is the biggest dollar rise since June 6, 2008. As a result, Oil & Gas Explores (XOP) have been declining this week.