This morning was another show of how Black Gold is playing tricks on the Market and will keep doing so for the time being.
After a brutal weekly open, sentiment and risk appetite had eased, with Oil yo-yoing between $120 and $80, despite remaining elevated, its price had stabilized throughout the following sessions, but, as warned in our prior WTI analysis, the stability was ephemeral.
As more and more tankers were attacked near the Strait of Hormuz throughout the week, Crude broke out of its temporary ~$80 range.
Today could have somewhat eased the pressure, but the petrol Bulls came right back to fuel the Commodity.
WTI 15M Chart – March 13, 2026. Source: TradingView
The issue is that Oil rallies are hurting virtually every other part of the Market – Except for its beloved Petrodollar, back on top of the FX board.
Participants are widely disregarding the recent softer prints in US data, particularly with the combined softer JOLTS, NFP, CPI and Core PCE releases.
Traders are only focusing on Oil's Inflationary impact for now – Keep track of upcoming data as flows could at some point turn toward economic concerns.
Next Wednesday's FOMC could also clarify the thinking.
Daily Performance in FX – USD Back on Top – Courtesy of Finviz
Pre-open Equity Futures had been bouncing higher, similarly as Cryptocurrencies – but since retreated.
Nasdaq 30M Chart – March 13, 2026. Source: TradingView
As long as prices don't return back above the past session's highs ($98.20), expect hesitant bearish action – Nasdaq is leading US Indexes to the downside.
Watch for the 24,400 Support lows. Breaking it could trigger further downside towards 24,000, a small mean-reversion attempt is ongoing.
Keep in mind that pre-weekend hedging could trigger some momentum in WTI (Oil) buying this afternoon.
Metals are getting annihilated
Daily Performance in Metals – Courtesy of Finviz
With the Current Fed pricing for cuts back below 20 bps for the entire year (only!), the yielding assets aren't faring well.
Metals are hedges against inflation on the long-term, but in the short-run, they tend to get repriced from higher expectations – exactly what's happening today.
In case you missed it, check out our latest Silver in-depth piece right here.
Discover: Silver (XAG/USD) rejects triangle formation from Iran War – Breakout scenarios
Safe Trades and keep your eyes on WTI & Strait of Hormuz news!
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