Saudi Arabia air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group blamed

Reuters reports "that Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted two ballistic missiles on Saturday night in an attack that Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group on Sunday said they had launched towards the capital Riyadh and southern areas near the Yemeni border.

Key notes

• No fatalities had been recorded from the shrapnel that fell on Riyadh.
• Residents in Riyadh reported multiple blasts around 2320 (2020 GMT), followed by emergency vehicle sirens in some northern districts.
• The attacks come days after Yemen’s warring parties had welcomed a UN call for an immediate truce on Thursday to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
• “Two civilians were slightly injured due to the falling of the intercepted missile’s debris as it exploded in mid-air over residential districts,” in Riyadh, the Saudi state news agency (SPA) reported, citing a Saudi civil defense spokesman, Lt. Colonel Mohammed al-Hammadi.
• Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for a September 2019 drone and missile attack on two oil installations that initially halved Saudi oil output, even after the Houthis claimed responsibility. Tehran denies involvement.
• The Saudi-led coalition on Friday said it had also intercepted and destroyed drones launched by the Houthis towards the Saudi cities of Abha and Khamis Mushait.
• A military spokesman for Yemen’s Houthis on Sunday said the group’s forces had launched rockets and drones at “sensitive” sites in the Saudi capital Riyadh and at economic and military sites in Jazan, Najran and Asir, near the Yemeni border.

Market implications

The sounds of war in the Middle East are usually a bullish factor for oil prices. However, considering the global economy is locked down due to COVID-19, "we caution that storm clouds still loom on the horizon, as the latest DOE inventory statistics showed dismal product demand," analysts at TD Securities explained.