So yesterday was a bit of a nail-biter, right? We had a looming, geo-political announcement that had the potential to rock markets and relationships between the u.s. and its allies… and enemies if we really want to be honest with the situation at hand. Leading up to the 2:00 hour for which President Trump was to announce the widely expected withdrawal from 2015, Iran Nuclear Treaty, markets remained rather tame with crude oil prices swinging back and forth leading up to the event. Below is a chart of the last few days of black gold trading.
Oil futures have rebounded early Wednesday, hitting levels near the 3 1/2-year high after bullish data on U.S. oil inventories, and in the wake of the U.S. pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal as of yesterday. Ignoring pleas by allies, President Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran that was agreed in late 2015, raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East and casting uncertainty over global oil supplies. I could run through the various scenarios that headline the various news outlets, but the reality is the issues with Iran that forced the President's hand have always been in place. Iran has always sought after nuclear armament and has always housed and supported terrorists and terrorist acts. Oversight of the regime's compliance with the 2015 treaty was limited and difficult and left largely to the United States. Having said that, the President removing the U.S. from the treaty strains relationships and trade negotiations, but those relationships and trade issues have been strained and for a variety of reasons.
Given the aforementioned issues, it probably should have been no surprise that equity markets finished roughly flat on the day, rising and falling throughout the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Tuesday's trade slightly higher, with the average posting its longest streak of gains, at four straight, since mid-February. The Dow closed up 2.89 points, or less than 0.1%, at 24,360.21. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index edged slightly lower, off 0.71 point, or than 0.1%, at 2,671.92, while the Nasdaq Composite Index notched a small gain, up 1.69 point, or less than 0.1%, at 7,266.90.
