Market Volatility (2023-2026)
Since 7 October 2023, global financial markets have experienced repeated volatility shocks from war and shipping disruption in the Middle East, monetary policy shifts, leveraged-position unwinds, technology valuation resets, and abrupt changes in US trade policy.
The 2026 US attack on Iran was only the latest example because it simultaneously affects oil supply, shipping routes, inflation expectations, global growth, and sovereign borrowing costs.
It is therefore naive to assume companies that ought to be boycotted given their belligerent association with Israel have taken the financial hit through BDS.
Instead, a number of these companies (e.g.) have performed remarkably well since, while a small handful of companies have taken a hit.
However, some of these companies that are being boycotted have managed to cleverly reallocate their resources (scaling back presence in boycott heavy markets and scaling up presence elsewhere) while a tiny minority are still continuing to perform poorly.
Nonetheless, it is important to point out share price rise and fall for various reasons and are not limited to quarterly revenues and gross profit margins.
For example, between 7 October 2023 and 3 July 2026 (1000th day of genocide), global shares tumbled due to events not related to the boycott including:
Late 2023–early 2024: Attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi in Yemen forced vessels to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, raising freight, insurance, transit-time, and supply-chain risks
13–19 Apr 2024: Israeli strike near Isfahan followed by Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel, led to a 4% jump in crude oil prices, causing global financial markets volatility.
Aug 2024: A Bank of Japan interest rate rise, a stronger yen, and weak US employment data triggered Japan’s Nikkei falling to its worst day since 1987, while the S&P 500 fell 6% over five trading days.
Late 2024: The US presidential election triggered substantial repricing in the dollar, Treasury yields, bank shares, small caps, trade-sensitive companies, and emerging-market assets. In effect a rate/FX shock.
27 Jan 2025: The emergence of (China) DeepSeek’s lower-cost AI model called into question assumptions about AI-related chip demand, data-centre spending, and the valuations of major US technology companies. Nvidia fell 17%, wiping about $593 billion from its market value. The Nasdaq dropped about 3% and global financial markets saw more or less the same.
2–11 Apr 2025: Broad US import tariffs and rapidly changing policy signals provoked a global risk-off across stocks, bonds, oil, gold, and the dollar. The subsequent tariff pause helped produce a 9.5% one-day S&P 500 rebound, its largest since 2008.
2025–26: Continuing changes in tariff rates, country exemptions, legal challenges, retaliation, and sector-specific duties sustained volatility. Policy uncertainty itself became a recurring market driver.
28 Feb–Mar 2026: The US attack on Iran created a huge risk premium around the Strait of Hormuz and global energy flows. Investors faced simultaneous risks of higher oil, inflation, interest rates, and weaker growth; market measures of equity, bond, oil, and gold volatility rose to crisis-like levels
Mar–Jun 2026: As the conflict persisted, markets reassessed it from a short-term geopolitical shock into a long-term macroeconomic problem. Equities, sovereign bonds, currencies, precious metals, and commodities all saw large swings, while higher energy costs increased stagflation and borrowing-cost concerns.
Jul–Sep 2026: Renewed strikes pushed oil higher and added to inflation concerns, contributing to falling stocks and rising government-bond yields. Continuing escalation led to a broader debt-market sell-off.
Therefore if a given company share price has risen or fallen during this period, it is not logical to attribute this alone to, the impact of the boycott campaign.
