Oil Jumps as Drone Strike Hits Saudi Aramco Field
WTI crude climbs toward $100 after a Houthi drone strike near Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield rattles energy markets, as Wall Street digests mixed earnings from Tesla, Netflix and SpaceX.
Market Snapshot
All figures are indicative opening levels as of this morning, October 22.
Stocks closed higher Wednesday: the Dow added 0.69 percent to around 52,856.09, the S&P 500 rose 0.58 percent to around 7,757.17, and the Nasdaq gained 1.05 percent to around 26,702.86.
The VIX jumped 9.41 percent to around 18.25 even as equities rose, signaling rising hedging demand ahead of next week’s Fed meeting.
Gold eased 1.98 percent to around $4,058.70 and silver fell 3.87 percent to around $55.61 after a sharp October run, while oil led commodities higher, up 2.14 percent to around $99.23 after the Houthi strike near Shaybah rattled energy markets overnight.
Tesla rose 3.41 percent to around $386.47 after beating third-quarter revenue and earnings estimates, though free cash flow fell sharply from a year ago.
Netflix slid 5.31 percent to around $65.04 after cutting its 2026 advertising revenue forecast and narrowing full-year guidance to the low end of its range.
SpaceX extended its post-earnings run, up 7.79 percent to around $159.31 after Tuesday’s report showed revenue growth of 161 percent.
Main Story
A Houthi drone strike near one of Saudi Arabia’s largest oilfields reset Thursday’s market narrative, overshadowing a mixed batch of megacap earnings.
- Debris from an intercepted drone struck near Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield Wednesday, killing two contractor workers and injuring two more. Output was unaffected, but the strike pushed Brent above $110 and WTI toward $99 by Thursday morning.
- Earnings were mixed: Tesla topped estimates with $28.05 billion in revenue and $2.62 a share, while Netflix beat on earnings but cut its 2026 ad revenue outlook to $2.7 billion from $3 billion and narrowed full-year guidance lower.
Chart of the Day
WTI crude climbed to around $99.23 Thursday morning, up 2.14 percent, after the Houthi drone strike near Shaybah renewed supply concerns.
The move pushed crude back above its 50-day moving average near $98.61, a level that has capped rallies since prices tested resistance near $101.90 earlier this month.
Support sits near $95.47, a level traders will watch if the Middle East risk premium fades.
Technical Trading
WTI levels worth watching, from Investing.com’s Thursday technical summary:
- The daily summary reads Strong Buy, with moving averages favoring buyers from the 10-day through the 200-day.
- The 14-day RSI sits at 52.7, a neutral reading that leaves room to run before crude looks overbought.
- The MACD reading of 0.085 is a marginal buy signal, though the Money Flow Index near 79.76 is overbought, a sign the rally could be running low on fuel.
Global News
- The U.S. State Department ordered non-emergency personnel to leave Saudi Arabia after Houthi attacks, including a strike on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam that killed one and injured eight.
- Asian equities sold off overnight, led by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, down 2.4 percent, South Korea’s Kospi, down nearly 2.0 percent, and Japan’s Nikkei 225, down 1.1 percent.
- France’s 10-year bond yield held near 5 percent, a level it hit this week for the first time since 2002, as political unrest and a widening budget standoff rattle European investors.
- The Federal Reserve’s next meeting runs October 27 and 28, with futures markets pricing roughly 88 percent odds of a hold at 3.75 to 4.00 percent.
Texas News
Dallas-based Texas Instruments reported third-quarter revenue of $6.06 billion and earnings of $2.62 a share Wednesday, both ahead of estimates, with data center revenue up nearly 95 percent from a year ago.
The company raised its fourth-quarter outlook to $5.8 billion to $6.3 billion on industrial and automotive strength.
Looking Ahead
Thursday, October 22: Weekly jobless claims and mortgage rate data are due this morning, with claims expected to hold near 200,000 and the 30-year rate sitting around 7.31 percent.
Monday, October 26: The Dallas Fed’s Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey is due, offering a fresh read on Texas factory activity ahead of next week’s Fed meeting.
The Y’all Street Podcast
Evan talks with Wasif Latif, Co-Founder and CIO of Sarmaya Partners, about his “Return to Tangibles” thesis: markets shifting from tech and long-duration financial assets toward energy, metals, commodities, and infrastructure. They cover what’s changed since the 2008 financial crisis, and frame AI as much a physical infrastructure story (power, natural gas, copper, uranium) as a software one. Latif ties it back to how he’s positioning around that view through Sarmaya’s LENS ETF.
Prices from Yahoo Finance, CNBC and Fortune. Technical levels from Investing.com and FXStreet. News from Reuters, Al Jazeera and CNBC.
For informational purposes only. Not investment advice. Prices are indicative opening levels and may differ from your broker.
