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Western financial capitals could be troubled by an uptick in oil prices, ahead of next month’s US presidential election. Inflation has cooled across advanced economies in recent months, paving the way for rate cuts by policymakers at the world’s top central banks.Yet experts believe financial markets could still avoid , citing three key reasons: expectations for the future path of the Middle East conflict, geopolitics, and the increasingly shaky health of the world . “It’s quite surprising when you see escalations and nothing moves, it’s not generally what you expect from markets,” said Nuwan Goonetilleke, the head of markets at the London-listed insurer Phoenix Group. “But it’s been escalating over the past 12 months. “The market will to watch to see if the conflict draws in other regional powerhouses. Iran is the one that could be potentially dramatic.”

Transcript:

Western financial capitals could be troubled by an uptick in oil prices, especially ahead of next month’s US presidential election. Inflation has cooled across advanced economies in recent months, paving the way for interest rate cuts by policymakers at the world’s top central banks. Yet experts believe financial markets could still avoid panic, citing three key reasons: expectations for the future path of the Middle East conflict, geopolitics, and the increasingly shaky health of the world economy. “It’s quite surprising when you see escalations and nothing moves, it’s not generally what you expect from markets,” said Nuwan Goonetilleke, the head of capital markets at the London-listed insurer Phoenix Group. “But it’s been escalating over the past 12 months. “The market will continue to watch to see if the conflict draws in other regional powerhouses. Iran is the one that could be potentially dramatic.”