Oil hits 3-week high, breaches $110. Trump to speak on Iran "very soon".
AI Summary
Show More
Quickly grasp the article's content and gauge market sentiment in just 30 seconds!
Brent crude oil (UKOUSD) has returned to levels not seen in 3 weeks.
Today (April 28), the global oil benchmark breached the $110/bbl level for the first time since April 7th, set for a 6th daily climb from the past 7 days.
Eagle-eyed readers would also notice that ...
Oil benchmarks have "easily breached" the upside targets (Brent: $110; WTI: $100) we'd set since this past Thursday, April 23rd.
Why are oil prices rising?
The Strait of Hormuz - the world's most critical oil chokepoint - remains almost completely closed amid stalled peace talks between the U.S. and Iran.
ECONS 101: Lower supply generally leads to higher prices, all else (including demand levels) equal.
Although negotiations are showing little progress and POTUS's team remain skeptical of Iran's latest proposal ...
President Trump is still set to address Iran's latest proposal to re-open the Strait of Hormuz "very soon".
Major assets fall on higher oil prices
Risk assets are moving lower, as expected, as they react to higher oil prices:
READ MORE (published April 23): 3 Reasons Oil Prices Are Driving Bitcoin, Stocks & Forex Markets - Every Trader Must Know
1) NAS100 index: -0.4%
In addition to the risk-off sentiment from higher oil prices, markets are also concerned about AI stocks overall.
The WSJ reported that OpenAI failed to meet its own sales goals for several months in 2026, while ChatGPT has failed to hit the company's target of 1 billion weekly active users by end-2025, with users migrating to over chatbots.
READ MORE:
published Apr 27: NAS100 included among "3 Assets to Watch" this week.
published Apr 24: AI Stocks Alert: Will DeepSeek's new flagship models crash US tech stocks again?
2) Gold (XAUUSD+): -1.3%
Spot gold has also fallen to a 3-week low, lowest since April 7th.
The precious metal is also struggling to end a run of 3 straight weekly declines, and back-to-back monthly losses.
READ MORE:
published Apr 17: Gold Options Divide - Bybit traders vs. TradFi venues - who's misreading the market?
3) Bitcoin (BCUSDT): -0.1%
Prices of the world's biggest and oldest crypto are set for 2 consecutive days of declines, pulling back lower from a 3-month high, after getting within 0.7% or US$ 542.60 of the $80k target we had set on April 20th.
READ MORE:
published Apr 27: Bitcoin included among "3 Assets to Watch" this week.
published Apr 22: Bitcoin hits new 2-month high!
4) US Dollar now stronger against most major currencies
The benchmark US dollar index (DXY) is now up 0.15% at the time of writing, with all G10 currencies and most Asian currencies now weaker vs. the "buck" so far today.
But not all currencies are made equal.
Notice how commodity-linked currencies dominate among the best-performing G10 currencies against the US dollar so far in April 2026:
Ask TradeGPT: What are commodity-linked currencies?
NOTE: Commodity-linked currencies are currencies from countries that heavily export natural resources, so their value tends to rise and fall with global commodity prices. This includes the Australian dollar (metals) and Norwegian krone (oil).
What's next for markets today?
The Bank of Japan rate decision earlier today initially led to gains for the Japanese Yen, but were swiftly wiped out.
Markets will be eager to assess whether President Trump can offer any fresh signals about the next stage in the Iran war.
POTENTIAL SCENARIOS:
Oil could rise higher and potentially re-test $115/bbl, and risk assets could fall further, if President Trump suggests that military actions may resume in the Middle East.
Oil could pare some of its gains and dip back into sub-$100 levels, potentially offering risk assets some relief, if President Trump fosters hope that he is still looking for an off-ramp from the current conflict.
READ MORE: Key Events and Assets to Watch this week (April 27 - May 1)
DISCLAIMER:
This article is provided for general information and reflects the author's views only. It does not constitute investment advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments or digital assets. Your ability to access or use any products or services mentioned may be subject to the laws and regulatory requirements of your jurisdiction.