Oil Plunges 8% After the Midterms; U.S. Crude Closes Below $90 for the First Time Since September

Oil prices fell off a cliff the day after the midterm elections.

December West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 8.3%, or $7.97, to settle at $88.12 a barrel. It was the first close below $90 since mid-September ^[1]. Brent, the international benchmark, fell by a similar amount ^[2].

Cheaper oil was a big reason the Dow outran the rest of the market, rising 3% to a one-year high ^[2]. Energy stocks went the other way, falling 5.55% ^[3].

Oil had already slid at the start of the week. On Monday, Brent fell 7.63% to $104.77 and WTI dropped 7.36% to $96.46 on hopes of renewed U.S.-Iran talks ^[4].

For families, the drop is starting to show up where it counts: at the pump. The question for the rest of November is whether diplomacy holds and keeps crude heading lower.