USO reverses, is down 0.18% after Houthi claim on Saudi site

USO is down 0.18% at $161.47 a share, following a Houthi claim of fresh strikes on Saudi infrastructure.

Oil prices split on Monday after Houthi forces claimed new attacks on Saudi infrastructure, including an Aramco-linked site. Brent crude gave back most of an early advance to trade up just 0.15%, while WTI held a steeper gain of 1.5%.

The claim follows an explosion reported in Riyadh earlier Monday that Saudi authorities had not confirmed, and a warning from a Houthi military source telling airlines to avoid Saudi airspace. It caps a month of escalation: Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport suspended flights after explosions on Sunday, Saudi forces intercepted two ballistic missiles on Saturday, and Egypt called an emergency parliament session the same day, vowing to help defend its neighbor. Brent climbed as high as $110 a barrel on Sunday as attacks continued near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, with Saudi Arabia weighing security contingencies.

Monday's claim fits a pattern that has held for weeks, in which crude's reaction has stayed modest next to the scale of the broader campaign. The gap between Brent's flat move and WTI's larger one mirrors earlier episodes that proved more technical than fundamental. Confirmed damage to export or production capacity has moved prices more than claims alone, and without evidence this strike reached either, it adds to the standing risk premium on oil rather than marking a new shock. For investors, that risk premium, not any single headline, remains the channel through which the conflict could eventually press on broader US equity markets, if sustained pressure on energy costs follows.