Stock Market News, Jan. 21, 2025: Dow ends up over 500 points, S&P 500 and Nasdaq climb on first trading day of Trump’s second term. Apple stock down, Netflix earnings ahead.
President Donald Trump’s inaugural address at the U.S. Capitol Monday has had an “immediate influence on oil prices,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and Forex.com.
During the speech, Trump promised that “we will drill, baby, drill,” emphasizing a push for increased domestic oil production and “aiming to lower global energy prices by boosting supply,” Razaqzada said in market commentary Tuesday.
Against this backdrop, the February contract for U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate, which expires at the end of Tuesday’s New York Mercantile Exchange session, fell by $1.20, or 1.5%, to $76.68 a barrel. The soon-to-be front-month contract, March WTI crude, traded at $76.11, down $1.28, or 1.7%.
The “lack of a more meaningful drop” in oil prices can be explained by the fact that Trump had already announced his plans for an increase in drilling, Razaqzada said. “Regardless of what prices do in the short-term, the long-term outlook is bearish: the expected increase in U.S. shale production, combined with the OPEC potentially returning withheld supplies, means the upside should be capped.” Demand growth may not keep up with the potential increase in global supplies, he added.
