March 17, 2026 8:14 am
Key Moments Brent crude is trading around USD 103 per barrel after an initial pullback. Iran has targeted oil and gas infrastructure, including the Shah gas field and facilities in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone. Danske Bank warns that Iran’s focus on energy assets could keep oil prices elevated, even if Strait of Hormuz traffic […]
Read moreMarch 17, 2026 7:24 am
WTI Rebounds After Pullback From $100 West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude Oil regained momentum during Tuesday’s Asian session. The benchmark recovered part of Monday’s decline after briefly approaching the $100.00 psychological level. As a result, WTI now trades slightly above the $95.00 mark, posting a gain of nearly 2% on the day. Strait of Hormuz […]
Read moreMarch 17, 2026 7:13 am
Key Moments Gold (XAU/USD) pulled back toward the lower end of its daily range while holding above the $5,000 level during the European session. Escalating conflict in the Middle East supported safe-haven demand, but inflation worries and reduced Fed rate-cut expectations underpinned the US Dollar. Market participants appeared cautious ahead of this week’s FOMC decision […]
Read moreMarch 16, 2026 3:02 pm
Key Moments ICE May cotton futures advanced 2.06 cents, or 3.1%, to 67.91 cents per lb, the highest level since November 4. The U.S. dollar index declined 0.4% against a currency basket, making dollar-priced cotton more attractive to international buyers. Hedge funds cut their net short position in ICE cotton futures by 9,793 contracts to […]
Read moreMarch 16, 2026 2:49 pm
Key Moments ING’s Warren Patterson replaces an earlier assumption of a two-week Strait of Hormuz disruption with scenarios that keep severe interruptions in place through the end of March or longer. The new base case (Scenario 1) assumes no resumption of Strait of Hormuz flows until the end of March, with only a gradual normalization […]
Read moreMarch 16, 2026 2:18 pm
Key Moments TD Securities’ Daniel Ghali highlights that copper will increasingly need to be sourced from exchange warehouses as global supply deficits intensify. Visible exchange inventories have risen to roughly 33% of above-ground copper stocks, compared with 5% at year-end 2023. A significant share of the remaining 67% of above-ground copper is described as encumbered […]
Read moreMarch 16, 2026 1:59 pm
Key Moments Brent crude briefly reached $106.5 and WTI touched $102.4 before easing to $103 and $97.5, respectively, at the time of writing. U.S. strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island – which handles roughly 90% of Iran’s oil exports – heightened concerns over supply stability. The U.S. outlined a 172 million barrel “exchange” from strategic reserves […]
Read moreMarch 16, 2026 1:19 pm
Key Moments Silver (XAG/USD) trades near $79.70 on Monday, down 1.12% as investors position ahead of major central bank decisions. Markets expect the Federal Reserve to hold rates at 3.50%-3.75%, extending a pause in its easing cycle and pressuring non-yielding assets. Rising Oil prices tied to Middle East tensions and U.S. actions targeting Iran’s Kharg […]
Read moreMarch 16, 2026 11:11 am
Key Moments Shell projects global LNG demand to rise from 422 million tonnes per annum in 2025 to between 610 million and 780 million tonnes per annum by 2050. The forecast implies a 45% to 85% increase in LNG demand over a 25-year period, with Asia accounting for 70% of growth through 2040. LNG is […]
Read moreMarch 16, 2026 9:44 am
Key Moments Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has progressively shut three production lines, affecting about 19% of its 1.6 million-ton-per-year capacity. Transit issues linked to the Strait of Hormuz have strained Middle East aluminum supply chains, limiting both exports and alumina feedstock flows. ING analysts see aluminum as structurally tight, with low inventories – particularly in Europe […]
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