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News
Thursday, July 23, 2026
What’s happening: Crude oil prices continued to climb this morning, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining effectively closed.
What happened: Escalating tensions between the US and Iran have sent oil prices higher through July, after the steep decline in the previous month.
Oil extended gains for the fifth session in a row with US dollar weakness providing a further boost.
Why it matters: The US launched attacks on Iran for the 12th straight night, after President Donald Trump announced plans to strike a bridge or power plant every time Tehran attacks a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that the Strait remains under their control and no vessels would be allowed to enter or leave the waterway without their coordination. Iran also warned of retaliatory attacks on US energy assets.
Iran-aligned Houthi militants launched attacks on two Saudi oil vessels in the Red Sea, the first direct attack in the waterway. This raised concerns around the alternative route for Saudi Arabia’s crude oil also being affected.
On the supply side, data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed that US crude inventories surged by 2.011 million barrels in the week ended July 17. The figure was much more than market estimates of a decline of 1.25 million barrels.
US gasoline stockpiles climbed by 765,000 barrels during the week, compared to market projections of a drawdown of 1.54 million barrels, while distillate stocks grew 1.395 million barrels, higher than expectations of 0.83 million barrels.
Weakness in the US dollar lent support to crude oil 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, fell around 0.1% to 101.06 this morning.
Spot price for WTI crude oil gained 1.8% to trade at $87.38 per barrel, rising for the fifth straight session. Brent crude oil price climbed 1.5% to $91.99 per barrel this morning.
In other commodities trading, gasoline rose 1.1% to $3.4516, while natural gas added 1% to reach $2.954 and heating oil jumped 1.6% to trade at $4.1295.
What to watch: Investors will keep an eye on rising tensions between the US and Iran and whether the Red Sea route is significantly impacted by this.
EIA’s data on natural gas stocks change (1830 UAE Time) will be released today. US natural gas stockpiles, which surged by 41 billion cubic feet (bcf) to a total of 3,024 bcf in the week ended July 10, are expected to rise by 29 bcf during the latest week.
Context: Shares of Tesla tanked over 4% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company released mixed quarterly results.
Details: Tesla reported revenue of $28.24 billion for the second quarter, topping consensus estimates of $25.71 billion. Earnings came in at 33 cents per share, missing Wall Street expectations of 50 cents per share.
The EV maker missed profit expectations despite a surge in vehicle deliveries. It previously reported deliveries of 480,126 vehicles for the second quarter, up 25% year-over-year and beating market estimates of 406,000.
Tesla indicated that profits were impacted by a surge in AI-related operating expenses, a decline in its average selling prices and lower regulatory credit revenue. The company also reported negative free cash flows for the first time in over two years.
Tesla closed the latest quarter with $674 million in digital assets, primarily bitcoin holdings. The latest figure represents a significantly decline from the $786 million recorded in the first quarter, with bitcoin prices decline through this year.
How shares responded: Tesla’s stock declined 4.1% to $358.55 in the extended trading session on Wednesday following the release of quarterly results. The stock has lost around 15% year to date.
What to watch: Investors will continue monitoring the company’s higher capital expenditure plans, with CEO Elon Musk looking to spend over $25 billion this year, almost three times last year’s spend.
Other Markets: European indices closed higher on Wednesday, with FTSE 100, DAX 40, CAC 40 and STOXX Europe 600 Index up by 1.24%, 0.58%, 0.89% and 0.58%, respectively.
Ukraine’s drones hit warehouses of Russia’s largest online retailer Wildberries for the second time. The news sent the USD/RUB pair lower in forex trading this morning.
Australia’s employment jumped by 76,300 to a record high of 14.82 million in June, accelerating from a 43,900 gain in May. The latest reading topping market estimates of a 15,000-gain lent support to the AUD/USD forex pair.
South Korea’s economy grew by 0.6% in the second quarter. This coming in above market estimates of 0.4% sent the USD/KRW pair lower in forex trading this morning.
Argentina’s economic activity climbed 0.2% year-over-year in May. This marked a significant slowdown from the previous month’s 1.7% growth, lending support to the USD/ARS forex pair.
South Africa’s retail sales jumped 2.3% year-over-year in May, up from the previous month’s 1.2% gain, which sent the USD/ZAR pair lower in forex trading this morning.
UK’s CBI business optimism index (1400 UAE Time) and CBI industrial trends orders (1400 UAE Time), Turkey’s interest rate decision (1500 UAE Time) and foreign exchange reserves (1530 UAE Time), Mexico’s economic activity (1600 UAE Time) and mid-month inflation rate (1600 UAE Time), European Central Bank’s interest rate decision (1615 UAE Time) and Eurozone’s consumer confidence (1800 UAE Time), Canada’s retail sales (1630 UAE Time), South Africa’s building permits (1630 UAE Time) and interest rate decision (1700 UAE Time), US Chicago Fed National Activity Index (1630 UAE Time), initial jobless claims (1630 UAE Time) and continuing jobless claims (1630 UAE Time) as well as Argentina’s consumer confidence (1900 UAE Time) and retail sales (2300 UAE Time).
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