Iranian drone and missile strikes over the weekend on two major aluminum plants in the Persian Gulf are stoking fears of a significant global supply shock. The attacks on facilities in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, which together account for a substantial portion of global production, caused futures on the London Metal Exchange to surge as much as 6%. The market reaction was amplified by already low global inventories, which leave little buffer to absorb production outages. The disruption to the Middle East's giant smelters threatens to be one of the largest supply shocks in the history of the aluminum market, potentially leading to record prices for the metal used widely in manufacturing, construction, and packaging.
Market Impact: S&P 500 Futures were down 0.02% and Nasdaq Futures fell 0.11%, while Dow Futures edged up 0.05%. Bitcoin and Ethereum posted modest gains since the last session close.