Dec’24 Brent futures showed weak upside momentum on Monday, following the confirmation over the weekend of the killing of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Initial strength in the morning took the contract to a high of $72.75/bbl shortly before 07:00 BST, where a correction set in and price decreased to $71.54/bbl at 11:10 BST (time of writing). Despite rising tensions in the Middle East, price action has highlighted that bearish sentiment persists. In the news today, Israel has issued a statement claiming to have bombed Houthi targets in Yemen’s port of Hodeidah on Sunday, killing at least 4 and wounding 29. Meanwhile, Israel has kept up their assault on Lebanon following yesterday’s latest airstrike, resulting in at least 105 casualties according to Lebanon’s health ministry. IDF tanks have now gathered on the Lebanon border as fears over a ground invasion mount. In other news, talks between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) over wage issues in US East and Gulf Coast ports are deadlocked, now reaching the 30 Sep deadline for a contract deal. The strike, which is due to begin on 1 Oct, would be the first coastwide ILA strike since 1977. At the time of writing, the front month (Dec/Jan’25) and six-month (Dec/Jun’25) Brent futures spreads are at $0.25/bbl and $0.58/bbl, respectively.
