Stocks inch up, oil dips as traders eye US-Iran talks
- Last updated: August 13, 2026 | 10:53
Global equities were higher on Wednesday and oil prices dipped as traders eyed talks to end the Iran war and US data showing only a slight rise in inflation damped some expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike.
Talks between the US and Iran were deadlocked. The United States and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reported separate ship attacks. But oil prices dipped as investors weighed lower demand forecasts.
US consumer prices increased 0.1% in July, in line with expectations, data showed on Wednesday. The small increase could weaken the argument for an interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve next month. Money markets have shown a roughly 50% chance of a hike heading into the data release.
The data “relieves some of the concerns that the Fed is being pushed toward a rate hike due to inflation, which is being fueled by higher energy prices,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Gold prices rose more than 1% as the data dented rate hike bets.
The data did not capture the most recent rise in oil prices , which have hurtled higher amid tensions over the US and Iran.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.37% to 1,154.92.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.10% to 53,848.98, the S&P 500 added 0.31% to 7,752.35 and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.65% at 26,617.60. Upbeat results from AI cloud company CoreWeave after the market closed on Tuesday gave the AI trade another boost.
In Europe, the pan-continental STOXX 600 fell 0.04% while Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index lost 0.09%. In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed higher by 0.92% at 1,636.51. Emerging market stocks rose 1.05% to 1,682.95.
Markets were still following talks to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic. The US and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reported separate attacks on shipping on Tuesday, while both Iran and the US have stepped up their rhetoric in recent days.
Iran’s most senior security official said on Tuesday the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed unless the US accepts Iran’s conditions.
Still, investors have been calm.
“Our base case for a long time has been a gradual but messy de-escalation,” said Dorian Carrell, head of multi-asset income at Schroders.
“We don’t expect traffic (through the Strait of Hormuz) to go to its full capacity. We think that puts a floor on the oil price and maintains an energy-driven inflationary driver in markets in the near- to medium-term.” Brent crude futures fell 0.26% to $88.68 per barrel, and US crude fell 0.49% to $82.79. Both benchmarks settled more than $1 higher on Tuesday, marking their highest closes since July 31.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 1.81 basis points to 4.666% and the yield on the benchmark German 10-year Bunds fell 3.77 basis points to 3.139%. Markets are increasingly pricing in an early rate hike in Japan, putting pressure on the nation’s shorter-dated bonds. Investors price in an almost 60% chance of a quarter-point hike at the Bank of Japan’s September meeting.
The yen strengthened 0.11% to 159.08 per dollar, remaining off last week’s high of 155.20 after several suspected rounds of intervention.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.08% to 99.73, with the euro up 0.1% at $1.1552.
Spot gold rose 1.61% to $4,436.99 an ounce.
US crude stocks excluding barrels in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve posted a surprise build and made their largest weekly gain since January 2023 last week as exports slumped, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Crude inventories rose by 17.4 million barrels to 424.4 million barrels in the week ended August 7, their highest level since June 5, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.4 million-barrel draw.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 1.6 million barrels. US and Brent crude futures both extended losses after the report showed the large, surprise build in stocks.
Refinery crude runs rose by 26,000 barrels per day in the week, the EIA said. Refinery utilization rates fell by 0.3 percentage points to 96.2%.
US gasoline stocks fell by 1 million barrels in the week to 208.7 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.2 million-barrel draw. US gasoline futures extended their losses and were down 0.63% after the data showed a smaller-than-expected stock draw in gasoline stocks.
Agencies