Robeco CIO Daalder: Why oil has now lost the 'power to shock' markets

High correlations between oil and equities are set to weaken as markets are now much more accustomed to lower and volatile prices for the commodity, according to Lukas Daalder, chief investment officer of Robeco Investment Solutions.

A collapse in the oil price from over $100/bl in the summer of 2014 to a low of $25/bl in February this year sent stockmarkets tumbling, while markets rebounded in the second part of Q1 as the oil price rose back up to around $42/bl on 11 April.  Daalder (pictured) commented: "Oil has been the leading theme in financial markets from the first day of the year, acting as the catalyst for both the sharp decline in stocks and credits, as well as the subsequent recovery that took place from the middle of February onwards.  "There has been a clear correlation between the intraday levels of ...