Wall Street may be profiting from the US and Israeli war on Iran, but short-term gains due to rising oil prices and market volatility are causing a slowdown in dealmaking – threatening its core business, market analysts have told Middle East Eye.
Within a few days of the US and Israel starting the conflict, oil prices saw a massive spike, while market volatility lifted trading revenues and energy-linked stocks. Defence shares also rallied on expectations of higher military spending, while banks reported stronger trading income amid the turmoil.
But experts have told MEE that those gains have masked some underlying weakness. While Wall Street's first-quarter earnings have looked strong, they largely reflect deals struck before the first strikes against Iran on 28 February, and the war's impact on dealmaking is only now beginning to show.
"Wall Street has done meaningfully less well out of the Iran war than might meet the eye," Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at tastylive, a US-based financial media and trading platform, told MEE.
Wall Street executives are now warning that the war on Iran is complicating transactions, delaying IPOs, and threatening the pipeline of mergers, acquisitions and new stock listings.
