🔻Less than a day after the Democrats’ victory, the price of oil fell below $100

Oil prices fell below $100 per barrel, and stock markets also ended their day with gains after the Democrats’ decisive victory in the U.S. midterm elections.

Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, fell by more than 8% on Wednesday afternoon and reached about $95 per barrel; the lowest level in the past two months. The drop came after hours earlier when JD Vance, the U.S. vice president, announced that the Republicans lost the election due to their war with Iran.

Vance’s remarks caused investors to reassess the risk of an expansion of the conflict in the Middle East.

It appears that markets, in response to Vance’s call to “end the war,” focused on the cost of living and reconsidered the United States’ relationship with Israel, and interpreted the post-election political outlook as a sign of a reduced likelihood of a notable escalation of tensions with Iran.

The key U.S. stock market indexes closed higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by 3%. The S&P 500 also rose by 1.6%, and the Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology companies, closed up 1.4%.