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News
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
What’s happening: Crude oil traded higher this morning, after the API reported a decline in US crude inventories.
What happened: Oil prices surged for the fourth straight session as the latest US-Iran developments showed no signs of the Strait of Hormuz reopening anytime soon.
Weakness in the US dollar also provided a boost to oil prices, ahead of the EIA’s data on stockpiles.
Why it matters: US President Donald Trump said that Washington was no longer involved in talks with Iran. Trump also confirmed the effectiveness of the US naval blockade at the Strait of Hormuz.
Investors remained concerned about shipping risks at the Strait of Hormuz, despite the US President’s claims of the key route being open. Reports suggest only limited traffic passing through the waterway, while Iran expressed its determination to keep the route closed.
Iran intensified strikes on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. A temporary peace deal between the US and Iran expired on Monday. No fresh strikes were reported on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that crude oil inventories declined by 328,000 barrels in the week ending August 14, compared to a rise of 9.07 million barrels in the previous week. Gasoline inventories rose by 1.08 million barrels, while distillate stocks declined by 2.80 million barrels in the latest week.
Weakness in the US dollar lent further support to oil prices as a softer greenback makes commodities cheaper for foreign currency holders. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, declined to 99.54 this morning.
Spot price for WTI crude oil rose 0.7% to $84.89 a barrel, extending gains for the fourth straight session. Spot price for Brent crude oil rose 0.6% to $90.64 a barrel this morning.
In other commodities trading, gasoline gained 0.5% to $3.3185, while natural gas rose 0.4% to $2.787 and heating oil surged 1.4% to $4.3820.
What to watch: Investors will continue monitoring developments between the US and Iran.
Data on the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) crude oil stocks change (1830 UAE Time) will be released today. US crude inventories, which jumped by 17.422 million barrels to 424.4 million barrels in the week ended August 7, are expected to decline by around 600,000 barrels in the latest week. US gasoline stockpiles declined by 968,000 barrels in the week ended August 7, while heating oil stockpiles climbed by 192,000 barrels in the week.
Context: The euro gained versus the US dollar this morning as investors digested the latest economic data.
Details: Data released on Tuesday showed that the ZEW indicator of economic sentiment for the Eurozone surged to 31.4 in August, recording the highest reading in six months and surpassing market estimates of 25.4. The latest reading signalled an improvement in sentiment for the third straight month.
Germany’s ZEW indicator of economic sentiment also climbed 7.9 points to a reading of 34.2 in August, topping market estimates of 30. The latest reading jumped to its highest level since February, signalling strength in investor morale despite ongoing geopolitical concerns.
Weakness in the US dollar provided a boost to the European common currency this morning. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s performance versus a basket of major peers, fell around 0.1% to 99.54.
The EUR/USD forex pair rose around 0.1% to 1.1587 this morning, while the EUR/GBP pair edged higher to 0.8557.
What to watch: Investors await the release of economic data on current account (1200 UAE Time) and inflation rate (1300 UAE Time) from the Eurozone today. The Eurozone, which reported a current account deficit of €6.19 billion in May, is expected to record a surplus of €32.0 billion in June. Analysts expect Eurozone’s annual inflation to rise to 2.9% in July from 2.8% in the previous month.
Other Markets: US trading indices closed lower on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones index, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 down by 0.22%, 0.69% and 1.68%, respectively.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed his support for Ukraine, despite Russia warning of consequences after UK-made drones were used in the latest strikes by Ukraine. The news sent the USD/RUB pair lower in forex trading this morning.
Australia’s wage price index rose 3.2% year-over-year in the second quarter, unchanged from the previous quarter’s reading. This being the weakest growth rate since the fourth quarter of 2024 exerted pressure on the AUD/USD forex pair.
Japan’s core machinery orders surged 9.7% to ¥1.06 trillion in June, versus a 12.4% decline in the previous month. The latest reading topping market estimates of a 7.8% gain sent the USD/JPY pair lower in forex trading this morning.
New Zealand’s producer output prices surged 1.6% in the three months to June, up from 0.8% in the previous quarter, which exerted pressure on the NZD/USD forex pair.
UK’s regular pay, excluding bonuses, surged 3.5% year-over-year to £703 per week during the three months to June, up from a 3.4% growth in the previous period, which sent the GBP/USD pair higher in forex trading this morning.
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