Oil’s big assault on stocks will end in time when consumers start spending

Among other things, the 66% plunge in oil since June 2014 has been a disaster for Standard & Poor’s 500 Index earnings, sucking the life out of energy companies while failing to ignite consumer spending.

One analyst says that cycle has run its course.

Even a plunge in crude to Wall Street’s worst-case level of $20 a barrel is unlikely to do additional harm to S&P 500 profits, according to Gina Martin-Adams of Wells Fargo Securities, who says a stabilisation at that price would probably unleash a windfall of consumer spending that has so far proven elusive.