Oil Surges on Supply Threats While the Dollar Strengthens

Crude oil moved most on Thursday, October 8, pacing broad commodity trading. On Thursday, Brent crude settled up 4.1% and West Texas Intermediate settled up 3.6%. The advance followed Middle East supply risks and hurricane-related production disruptions in the United States. The sharp gains in energy prices kept financial markets unsettled alongside falling technology stocks and reversing Treasury yields.

Industrial and precious metals showed mixed trading across the session. On Thursday, copper rose on supply constraints caused by a strike at Chile's Centinela mine and expectations of restocking demand from Chinese buyers returning from a national holiday. Gold recovered modestly on Thursday as investors weighed mounting U.S. government debt and an uncertain interest rate path against elevated bond yields and a firm dollar.

In foreign exchange, the U.S. dollar strengthened against major currency counterparts. The greenback held near an 18-month high as Federal Reserve meeting minutes emphasized lingering inflation risks and the path of interest rates. On Thursday, the euro weakened against the dollar as higher oil prices and rising euro-zone bond yields weighed on the common currency.

In cryptocurrency, digital assets traded with little direction on Thursday, October 8, with Bitcoin -0.1% and Ethereum -0.1% showing minimal net change across the session. After the regular close, continuous trading showed further adjustments in precious metals, with silver -1.7% and gold +0.4% recorded as of 11:45 am New York.

Several scheduled economic reports are set to guide markets in the coming sessions. The preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey is scheduled for Friday morning, offering an update on consumer expectations and household views on inflation. Canada is also scheduled to release its national employment report on Friday. Next week brings additional key data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, including the September Consumer Price Index on Wednesday, October 14, followed by the Producer Price Index on Thursday, October 15, and import and export price indexes on Friday, October 16.