IEA's record inventory blowout didn't help: Dow Jones loses 1%, oil rises to $93

Markets were skeptical about the decision of the International Energy Agency (IEA) to release a record volume of oil reserves in its history. Brent on the background of this news rose to $93 per barrel (although during the day on March 11 fell to $86), the stock index of "blue chips" Dow Jones - lost 1%.

The broad index of U.S. stocks S&P 500 loses 0.2%, technology Nasdaq Composite, which was also in the red zone, adds a symbolic 0.04% at the time of publication. WTI crude futures for April delivery jumped to $87.5 per barrel, although they fell to $81.79 during the March 11 session. The VIX Volatility Index, also known as the "Wall Street Fear Index," is at 25.2 - any value above 20 indicates increased volatility in the market.

The release of IEA reserves "doesn't solve other problems that will affect the global economy," Ron Albahari, chief investment officer at Laird Norton Wetherby, explained in an interview with CNBC. He cited disruptions in the supply of petroleum products (such as jet fuel) that were supposed to reach markets through the Strait of Hormuz as one such issue. "I think the markets are now trying to figure out what is the way out of this situation," he added, noting that all parties to the conflict in the Middle East have "taken a tough stance.""It's hard to see how this can have a positive impact in the short term," Albahari noted.

"In our view, Trump's declarations of an imminent end to the war after an extraordinary spike in oil price volatility may mean his 'pain threshold' has been reached," Emmanuel Kau, head of European equities strategy at Barclays, wrote in a March 11 research note. - The longer the oil spike persists, the greater the risk of lower [corporate] profits and [market] valuations [of companies]," he added.

On February 11, the IEA member countries agreed to release a record volume of oil from the agency's strategic reserves - 400 million barrels. However, stock traders, as Bloomberg explained, are concerned not so much about the large-scale volume of released resources as about the speed with which they will be delivered to the market. The IEA did not give specific deadlines related to this, noting only that each country will determine them independently.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor