WTI surges to $85.00 amid Israel-Iran tensions

WTI snaps the three-day winning streak near $85.00 on Friday.
Israel retaliates as missiles strike a site in Iran, boosting the black gold price.
The expectation that the US Fed will delay interest rate cuts to September might cap the WTI’s upside.

Lallalit Srijandorn FXStreet

Western Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $85.00 on Friday. The black gold gains traction on the day amid the escalating tension between Israel and Iran after a US official confirmed that Israeli missiles had hit a site in Iran.

On Friday, ABC News reported that explosions were heard at an airport in the Iranian city of Isfahan but the cause was not immediately known. Several flights were diverted over Iranian airspace. Over the weekend, Iran unleashed hundreds of drones and missiles in retaliation for a purported Israeli raid on its Syrian embassy building. The tension between Israel and Iran heightened concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East, triggering the fear of oil supply disruption.

On the other hand, several Fed officials have made hawkish comments in recent days. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said that US inflation is too high and Fed still has a way to go on inflation, while New York Fed President John Williams emphasized that the Fed is data dependent and he doesn't feel an urgency to cut rates. Earlier this week, Fed Cleveland President Loretta Mester said that inflation is higher than expected and the central bank needs more confidence in its trajectory.

WTI US OIL

Overview
Today last price	85.1
Today Daily Change	3.22
Today Daily Change %	3.93
Today daily open	81.88

Trends
Daily SMA20	83.78
Daily SMA50	80.53
Daily SMA100	76.86
Daily SMA200	79.57

Levels
Previous Daily High	82.8
Previous Daily Low	81.05
Previous Weekly High	87.03
Previous Weekly Low	84.01
Previous Monthly High	83.05
Previous Monthly Low	76.5
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	81.72
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	82.13
Daily Pivot Point S1	81.02
Daily Pivot Point S2	80.15
Daily Pivot Point S3	79.26
Daily Pivot Point R1	82.77
Daily Pivot Point R2	83.67
Daily Pivot Point R3	84.53

Author

Lallalit Srijandorn

FXStreet

Lallalit Srijandorn is a Parisian at heart. She has lived in France since 2019 and now becomes a digital entrepreneur based in Paris and Bangkok.

AUD/USD consolidates near 0.7000 as USD stays weak

AUD/USD holds steady above 0.7000 during Thursday’s Asian session, consolidating the previous day’s recovery gains from a near three-week low as the Democratic sweep in the US midterm elections and Iran diplomacy hopes continue to weigh on the US Dollar. Bulls, however, seem hesitant as focus shifts to Friday’s crucial US NFP report.

USD/JPY drifts lower to 158.25 on hawkish BoJ Minutes, weak USD

USD/JPY trades with a negative bias for the second straight day on Thursday as hawkish BoJ Minutes, showing members agreed to keep raising rates, and intervention risks support the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, US midterm election results and hopes for Iran diplomacy keep the US Dollar depressed as focus shifts to Friday’s US NFP report.

Gold eases from two-week top; holds comfortably above $4,100

Gold retreats slightly from a two-week high touched during Thursday’s Asian session, albeit it clings to gains for the second straight day and currently trades around $4,130. The US Dollar extends the fallout from US election results, dropping to a fresh low since late September and assisting the commodity in building on the previous day's strong rally of over 3.5% – its biggest single-day rise since mid-August.

TRUMP token hits record low amid mounting selling pressure

Ripple and Stellar extend their recovery as bearish pressure begins to ease for both altcoins. XRP trades above $1.30 after breaking above the upper trendline of a falling channel pattern, while XLM holds above $0.168 and approaches resistance at $0.173. Meanwhile, improving derivatives metrics and strengthening momentum indicators hint at a potential for further recovery.

BoE expected to hike interest rate to 4.00%

The Bank of England is set to reveal its latest monetary policy decision on Thursday, coinciding with its seventh rate-setting meeting of 2026. Market analysts expect the ‘Old Lady’ to increase its policy rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.00%, the highest level since November 2025.

US Dollar breaks below 101.50 as Democrats sweep Congress

The US Dollar (USD) comes under heavy selling pressure on Wednesday, with the US Dollar Index (DXY) falling around 0.5% to trade near 101.35 after sliding below the 101.50 level. The Greenback retreats to its lowest level in four weeks as investors reassess the political and economic outlook following the Democratic Party's sweeping victory in the United States (US) midterm elections.