Oil Prices Plunge After Democrats Win US Congress in Midterm Elections

Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday and major stock indices in the US and Europe rose after the US midterm election results became clear. The Democratic Party won control of both chambers of Congress, which lets it block legislation, launch investigations into the administration of President Donald Trump and influence the government budget, including Pentagon funding.

Analysts said the outcome ended uncertainty and noted relief that Trump is not contesting the results.

Oil and gas

Oil extended its decline after US Vice President James David Vance said on social media that the Republican defeat was due to the unpopularity of the war with Iran, which has pushed up fuel and other prices.

In electronic trading on the New York exchange, WTI crude fell 8.3% to $88.12 a barrel. On the London exchange, Brent crude dropped 8.7% to $94.62 a barrel, below the $100 mark. On the Dutch exchange, the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) natural gas price decreased 3.8% to €88.08 per megawatt-hour.

Equities

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.0% to 53,356.12 points, the S&P 500 gained 1.6% to 7,688.62 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.4% to 25,736.51. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 rose 1.8% to 10,829.21, Paris's CAC 40 gained 2.0% to 8,177.89 and Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 2.2% to 26,437.67.

Shares of Elon Musk's companies SpaceX and Tesla fell 3.8% and 3.3% respectively, as Musk's large donations to the Republican campaign did not prevent a Democratic victory. Several defense companies also lost value, with Lockheed Martin down 6.9%.

Currencies

The euro rose against the US dollar from 1.1193 to 1.1229, and the British pound climbed from 1.3415 to 1.3473 dollars. The dollar slipped against the Japanese yen from 158.69 to 158.49 yen. The euro fell against the pound from 83.43 to 83.35 pence.