The latest Market Talks covering Energy markets. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1059 ET - Crude futures extend losses, sliding as much as 4% despite a sharp drawdown in U.S. stocks and as traders continue to monitor U.S.-Iran negotiations. In U.S. morning trade, Brent crude declines 3.8% to $107.02 a barrel, while WTI futures fall 3.4% to $100.64 a barrel. The latest EIA data showed commercial crude oil inventories fell by 7.9 million barrels in the week ended May 15, while gasoline stocks declined by 1.55 million barrels. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, rapidly tightening global supplies, and the U.S. and Iran still appear far from reaching an agreement. Still, analysts say several factors could prevent prices from moving significantly higher. "One of the most significant could be a substantial reduction in global demand," says Alex Kuptsikevich from FxPro. "Higher interest rates could push economies closer to recession and reduce demand for energy commodities." (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
1058 ET - U.K. inflation data for April represent a significant downside to the Bank of England's expectations, increasing the chance that it will keep interest rates on hold for the remainder of the year, Barclays' Jack Meaning and Cian Hennigan say in a note. Headline and core inflation declined 0.5 points and 0.6 points respectively, to 2.8% and 2.5%. Even as direct energy components strengthen, there's little evidence yet of indirect energy effects in food prices or core goods, they say. "The [BOE] will take some comfort from confirmation that the underlying inflationary picture in the absence of the shock would have been benign." However, focus will remain on forward-looking indicators and geopolitics, which will shape inflation going forward, the economists say. (edward.frankl@wsj.com)
1049 ET - Jeff Bezos is bullish on space, but not so bullish that he sees space-based artificial-intelligence data centers being built within three years, as Elon Musk has suggested. Space-based innovation is happening quicker than many realize, but the three-year horizon is "a little ambitious," he says in a CNBC interview. "The question, 'Are data centers in space realistic?' The answer is, 'Yes,'" Bezos says. "The timeline is harder to answer. Some of the timelines you hear are very short. They're probably not right." Musk would probably respond that an ambitious, aspirational timeline is important, Bezos says, but launch costs first need to fall and the proportion of data-center spending on energy needs to rise for the investment to make sense. "Exactly how long it will take, I don't think anyone knows, but it is real, it will happen," Bezos says. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
0943 ET - The EU faces a significant skills gap in the raw-materials sector, Ekaterina Zaharieva, the bloc's commissioner for startups, research and innovation, says at a summit. "Public and private investment, together with programs like Horizon Europe, are helping accelerate innovation across the raw materials value chain, but innovation alone is not enough," she says, referring to the bloc's funding program for research and innovation. "Europe must become better and faster at scaling ideas into industrial success," she says. (edith.hancock@wsj.com)
0919 ET - U.S. natural gas futures pull back from five straight sessions of gains as the heat wave across the eastern U.S. is set to ease and near-term weather forecasts shed some demand. National demand is seen easing Thursday-Saturday as a cool shot over the Midwest spreads across the Great Lakes and into the East, NatGasWeather.com says in a note. Still, "much of the long-range weather data maintains a relatively hot June U.S. pattern," the forecaster adds. Nymex natural gas is down 1.8% at $3.057/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
0910 ET - Crude futures lose ground with the market holding out hope for an end to the U.S.-Iran conflict, while reports of some tanker transit through the Strait of Hormuz and the UK's easing of restrictions on Russian diesel and jet fuel offer some relief. Oil prices will likely continue to zig-zag as the continued blockage of the strait contains downward corrections, while "creative methods" for skirting the strait to get oil out limits upside, Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note. "But our stance remains bullish as we still see a big gap between the U.S. and Iran regarding the nuclear issue." WTI is down 2.3% at $101.80 a barrel as the July contract moves to the front of the curve. Brent is down 2.4% at $108.58.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
0844 ET - Bitcoin rises slightly along with U.S. stock futures as the recent selloff in global bonds takes a pause due to an easing of oil prices. The recent bond market turmoil is driven by fears that higher oil prices due to the Iran war will push up inflation and prompt central banks to raise interest rates. Brent crude is last down 2% at $109 per barrel after three oil tankers crossed the Strait of Hormuz overnight, according to LSEG data. President Trump suggested the Iran war could end soon but warned of fresh military strikes if a peace deal isn't agreed in coming days, keeping risk sentiment cautious. Bitcoin rises 0.6% to $77,466, LSEG data show. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)
0622 ET - The Japanese yen could stay weak even if Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda sounds more "hawkish" by favoring raising interest rates ahead of the June meeting, MUFG Bank's Derek Halpenny says in a note. "The pricing for a [June] hike is already showing an 80% probability, so it's unlikely that a more hawkish BOJ at this stage will be enough to lift the yen," he says. Signals of more rate rises beyond June would help but seem unlikely. Middle East developments and oil prices will therefore remain key. Additional intervention to prop up the yen might be needed, he says. The dollar trades flat at 159.04 yen after hitting a near three-week high of 159.25 Tuesday, LSEG data show. (renae.dyer@wsj.com)
0621 ET - Palm oil futures ended little changed, with the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for August delivery falling 2 ringgit to close at 4,583 ringgit a metric ton. Rival oils traded weaker overnight as slow progress in resolving the U.S.-Iran conflict weighed on sentiment, say Kenanga Futures analysts in a note. Profit taking after a recent rally and concerns that India may raise import duties likely also pulled down prices, they say, although a weaker Malaysian ringgit could cushion the fall. They peg the support and resistance levels for the August contract at 4,500 ringgit and 4,625 ringgit, respectively. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0620 ET - The Bank of England is unlikely to increase interest rates more than once this year after weaker-than-expected U.K. inflation data and jobs data released this week, Ebury's Matthew Ryan says in a note. "The job market slack should act as a natural brake on second-round inflation effects." Elevated gilt yields are also "acting to tighten financial conditions, and adding aggressive hikes into the mix would risk overkill", Ryan says. Ebury says one BOE interest rate rise is possible in the summer. Investors fully price in two quarter-point BOE rate rises in 2026, LSEG data show. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)
0557 ET - U.S. Treasury yields decline from recent highs as markets stabilize, though the unresolved Middle East situation continues to leave investors cautious. "Concerns over the duration of the tensions and the absence of meaningful progress toward a diplomatic resolution continued to sustain caution, while prolonged supply disruptions and elevated oil prices fuel inflation expectations," says FXEM's Abdelaziz Albogdady in a note. Recent labor market figures pointed to continued strength in hiring activity, while the Federal Reserve is increasingly expected to raise rates next year, he says. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield falls 2.6 basis points at 4.642%, according to Tradeweb. (emese.bartha@wsj.com)
0545 ET - U.K. data suggests inflation would have dropped close to the Bank of England's 2% target without the Iran war, Berenberg's Andrew Wishart says. Headline inflation fell to 2.8% in April, from 3.3% in March. The surge in oil prices since February has added 0.7 percentage points to inflation, wholly explaining why it remains adrift of the target, Wishart says in a note. The drop in services inflation--to 3.2% from 4.5%--will help overcome the perception that the U.K. has a particularly intractable inflation problem, he notes. While headline inflation will continue to rise as higher import prices feed through, if services prices--which the BOE can influence most--continue to behave, the central bank need not raise interest rates, Wishart says. (edward.frankl@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2026 11:00 ET (15:00 GMT)
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