● Brent Posts Biggest Weekly Drop Since Pandemic

Brent crude is on track for a 16% weekly decline, its steepest percentage drop since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and its largest fall in absolute terms since 1988. WTI crude slid 13% over the same stretch, as Republican losses in Tuesday's US midterms fueled hopes of a de-escalation in the Iran war. Energy stocks ($XLE) absorbed the swing as both benchmarks pared losses by Friday, with WTI trading near $91 a barrel even as continued tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz kept a floor under prices.