The oil industry and stock markets

The drone attack on Saudi Aramco’s facilities sent shockwaves around the world. This incident happened laws week. That fact is not surprising at all because Saudi Arabia is the biggest oil exporter in the world. The price fluctuations also affected the stock markets.

Moreover, this was the only problem of the oil sector which influenced the stock market. Another issue is the state-owned company, Saudi Aramco. The Saudi Arabian energy giant had the plan to go public. It is unclear how will this attack the influence the decision of Saudi Aramco. It is worth mentioning that even before the attack, the date of IPO changed several times. The daily oil production fell by 5.7 million barrels per day as a result of the attack.

It is hard to overestimate the importance of the latest incident in the Middle East. However, there is another news that attracted the attention of investors and stock market analysts. The meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve started on Tuesday.

The meeting of the rate-setting committee is an important event. Based on the market expectations, there is a chance that policymakers may reduce the interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. On September 18, the outcome of this meeting will give the opportunity to evaluate the influence of this decision on the stock markets.

Stock markets on September 17

The Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined by 80 points or 0.3% to 27,002. Another U.S. index S&P 500 fell by 3 points or 0.1% to 2,295. The Nasdaq Composite Index also decreased by 1point or less than 0.1% to 8,152.

The Pan-European index STOXX 600 fell by 0.12% to 389.06. The German DAX index fell by 0.13% to 12363.78. The French CAC 40 index rose by 0.14% to 7331.62.

The trade tensions in the Middle East, as well as the decision of the U.S. Federal Reserve, will influence the stock markets for the rest of the week.