Brent crude futures settled at US04.28 a barrel on 8 October (US time), up 4.07 per cent, and WTI at US$91.49, up 3.64 per cent (settlement data via FinancialJuice; Bloomberg reported Brent above US05 intraday). The Houthis said they attacked Riyadh's King Khalid airport with missiles (Reuters, AP), and the BBC and FT reported three deaths in Houthi attacks on Saudi airports. Lufthansa and Indian airlines suspended Riyadh flights (Reuters). Bloomberg reported Hurricane Isaias put about 500,000 barrels a day of US refining capacity at risk. President Trump said the US would not attack Iran before the midterms (Reuters, FT), while the US sanctioned more tankers in Iran's shadow fleet and Iran vowed to block more Hormuz routes (Reuters). Wall Street slipped on higher yields and oil (Reuters).
Oil above US00 feeds inflation and keeps central banks leaning towards higher rates. That is the same fear that drove Thursday's sell-off in Singapore bank shares.
Expect pressure on pump prices, airfares and, later, electricity tariffs. If you hold STI funds or bank shares, another volatile session is likely today.
Much of the spike is a weather and security premium. If the hurricane passes quickly and the Saudi attacks do not widen, prices can fall back as fast as they rose.
Supply is being hit from several directions at once: the Gulf, the Red Sea area and the US coast. Each shock lands on markets already worried about inflation, so the premium may stick.
Three things to watch: how much US Gulf output stays offline after landfall, whether the Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure continue, and whether Hormuz traffic recovers. If Brent stays above US00 into next week, expect forecasters to lift their inflation outlook for Singapore.
FinancialJuice (settlement data), Bloomberg, Reuters, AP, BBC, Financial Times, The Guardian, CNA (8–9 Oct 2026)
Markets · EnergyPress ✓ 6 outlets · settlement prices as reported; casualty figure from BBC and FT
Oil jumps 4% as Houthi missiles hit Saudi airports and a hurricane bears down on US Gulf output
Brent settled above US$104 a barrel overnight and Wall Street slipped. After Thursday's 3.5 per cent fall in the STI, Singapore investors face another test this morning.
Oil prices rose sharply overnight. Brent crude futures settled at US$104.28 a barrel, up US$4.08 or 4.07 per cent, and US West Texas Intermediate settled at US$91.49, up 3.64 per cent, according to settlement data reported by FinancialJuice. Bloomberg reported that Brent topped US$105 during the session, and the Guardian said prices rose on Middle East tensions and the threat of a hurricane off the US coast.
The first push came from Saudi Arabia. The Houthis in Yemen said they had attacked King Khalid airport in Riyadh with missiles, Reuters and AP reported, and Reuters said smoke was seen rising from an aircraft at the airport. The BBC and the Financial Times reported that three people were killed in Houthi attacks on Saudi airports, which the BBC called an escalation in the conflict. Reuters reported that Lufthansa and Indian airlines suspended flights to Riyadh.
The second came from the Gulf of Mexico. Bloomberg reported that Hurricane Isaias was nearing major status ahead of landfall on the US Gulf Coast, putting about 500,000 barrels a day of refining capacity at risk. Offshore producers also shut in part of their output ahead of the storm. One market service put the loss at 1.3 million barrels a day; DailyDrop has not confirmed that figure with a second outlet. The storm adds a US supply problem to the one in the Middle East, and it threatens refiners as well as oil wells, which matters for the price of fuel as much as for crude.
Washington sent mixed signals. President Trump said the US would not attack Iran before the midterm elections and described talks with Iran as productive, Reuters and the Financial Times reported. On the same day the US imposed fresh sanctions on Iran's shadow fleet of tankers, Reuters reported, while Iran vowed to block more routes through the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters said transits there had fallen to their lowest in more than two months after attacks on tankers. The Financial Times noted that traffic had recovered to close to 90 per cent of pre-war levels last month before this latest fall.
Markets read the move as an inflation warning. Reuters reported that Wall Street slipped as higher yields and oil prices flagged inflation risk; the S&P 500 was down about 0.6 per cent late in the session. In Asia, Reuters and CNA reported that governments were racing to stockpile oil and speed up renewables, and Bloomberg said Saudi Arabia and the UAE would back a Japanese-led plan to build oil buffers in Southeast Asia.
For Singapore the link is direct. The city is a refining and oil-trading hub, and dearer crude reaches pump prices, electricity tariffs and airfares within weeks. Thursday's 3.49 per cent fall in the Straits Times Index was driven by the same inflation and interest-rate fears. Today, watch whether foreign funds keep selling the local banks, and whether Brent holds above US$100 as the hurricane makes landfall.
Unfold the story and DailyDrop's take
By the numbers
US$104.28Brent settlement, up 4.07%
US$91.49WTI settlement, up 3.64%
3killed in Houthi attacks on Saudi airports (BBC, FT)
Speaking at the Forbes Global CEO Conference on 8 October, PM Lawrence Wong said Singapore must seize the AI opportunity before a correction because no boom is forever (CNA). He discussed the risk that powerful, autonomous AI systems go rogue (CNA), said the right US tariff on Singapore should be zero (CNA), said Singapore would deepen regional connections as ASEAN chair in 2027 (BT), and pledged that the gains from AI would be shared widely (ST). Singapore has faced a 10 per cent US baseline tariff since April 2025 despite its free trade agreement.
It is a frank signal from the head of government that the AI boom is a window, not a permanent state, and that policy will try to spread its benefits.
If your job is exposed to AI, watch for training and job-switch support that follows the speech.
Moving early while capital and talent are flowing is the right call for a small, open economy.
Planning around a boom that may correct risks building capacity that sits idle later.
Watch the follow-up: the budget-season schemes for workers and the priorities Singapore sets for its 2027 ASEAN chairmanship.
CNA, The Straits Times, The Business Times (8 Oct 2026)
Singapore · EconomyPress ✓ 3 outlets · remarks as reported by CNA, ST and BT
PM Wong: no boom is forever. Singapore must seize the AI opportunity before a correction, and the right US tariff here is zero
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told the Forbes Global CEO Conference on Thursday that Singapore must make the most of the artificial intelligence boom before it turns, CNA reported, warning that no boom is forever. He also spoke about how countries should handle the risk that powerful, autonomous AI systems go rogue.
On trade, CNA reported him saying that the right US tariff on Singapore should be zero. Singapore charges no tariffs on American goods under its free trade agreement and buys more from the US than it sells there, yet it was hit with a 10 per cent baseline tariff in April 2025. The Business Times reported that he said Singapore would deepen regional connections when it chairs ASEAN in 2027, and the Straits Times reported his pledge that the gains from the AI rollout would be shared widely.
The remarks fit the week. TSMC reported record quarterly revenue and the WTO raised its trade forecast on AI demand, while investors grow nervous about stretched valuations. Investors in Asia have been asking the same question all week: how long can AI spending carry markets? Mr Wong's answer was to use the boom while it lasts rather than bet that it will last. For workers, the test of the pledge will be concrete schemes for training and job moves, not the speech itself.
Unfold
Word of the day
CorrectionMarketsA fall of about 10 per cent or more from a recent peak in a market or asset. It is smaller and usually shorter than a crash. PM Wong warned that the AI boom could end in one, and urged Singapore to gain what it can first.