Brent oil hits highest since April after Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia; Dow drops 1.2%

Brent crude futures settled at $116.72 a barrel on Friday, 23 October, up $3.55 or 3.1%, their highest close since 29 April, Reuters reported. US West Texas Intermediate rose 3.8% to $103.27. Brent gained 6% over the week.

What drove oil

Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia fanned fears of further disruption to Middle East energy supplies, while authorities in the United Arab Emirates reported an oil spill, according to Reuters. CNBC also cited reports that the US and Israel may be drawing up plans for renewed strikes on Iran, which said it was ready to hit back.

Stocks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 652.82 points, or 1.23%, to 52,215.16; the S&P 500 lost 0.52% and the Nasdaq 0.21%. Tech shares steadied after Thursday’s selloff, while the S&P 500 energy sector rose 2.5% to a record high. In Europe, the STOXX 600 posted its steepest weekly loss since early September. Next week about a third of S&P 500 companies report, including Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.