The largest oil-producing region and the most pivotal refinery hub in the US weathered the assault of Hurricane Francine relatively unscathed. The fact that the storm weakened shortly after landfall undeniably mitigated damage. The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimated that about 40% of the US Gulf Coast oil production came offline at one point.
A gust of hope blows through the wider suites, and it is to do with computer systems, rather than those of the weather variety. The news late in the trading day that the US government is contemplating sales of advanced microchips from Nvidia to Saudi Arabia has the investment tourists cock-a-hoop again and they pile back into the AI darling. The tech company's shares have rallied 8% overnight and how its fortune is the bellwether for bourse prices is a now well-practised commentary.
As the saying goes, markets can stay irrational longer than one can stay solvent. It is an open question whether the current sell-off, which started in the second half of August and took the price of Brent below $70/bbl yesterday for the first time since December 2021 is an irrational one and whether it will continue.
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