Oil Price Higher on News from Middle East
July 13, 2026
(131) U.S. and Iranian officials are telling different narratives about latest developments in their war. What is known is that the opponents have traded strikes again. Iran claims the Strait of Hormuz is closed, while U.S. officials claim traffic through the passage is happening. When in doubt, it pays to watch what the price of oil is doing, and a 3.5% price increase has occurred since Friday. Meanwhile, today’s flow of economic data has been quite low.
Equity movements in Asia were mixed today, with Chinese share prices dropping 2.1%, but Japan’s Nikkei rising 1.2%. U.S. stock futures range from nil changes in the DOW and Russell 2000 to losses of 0.5% in the SPX and 0.9% in the Nasdaq. Similarly, European stock exchanges are flat to modestly lower.
A more consistent story is told by 10-year sovereign debt yields, which have risen five basis points in the U.K., four bps in Japan, three bps in France, Italy and Spain, two bps in Germany and Switzerland and a basis point in the United States.
The dollar, despite a scenario that favors reserve currencies, is slightly lower against most other currencies. A 0.2% rise versus the yen is a notable exception. Gold and Bitcoin prices are around 1% lower.
Indian consumer price inflation, which had been as low as 0.25% last October, rose to a year and a half high of 4.4% last month.
Romanian CPI inflation in June settled back to half a percentage point below May’s 37-month high of 10.9%.
Serbian CPI inflation defied expectations of further acceleration in June, instead sliding to a 4-month low of 2.7%.
Turkey’s current account deficit of $30.7 billion in the first half of 2026 was 29% wider than a year earlier. Likewise, India’s current account deficit widened 32% to $169.5 during the first half of this year.
The composite and service sector purchasing manager indices for New Zealand crossed the 50 neutral level for the first time since January and each registered six month highs of 53.4 and 50.6, respectively, in June.
Copyright 2026, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved.
Tags: Fresh military strikes in Iran war, Indian CPI and current account
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