Financial Markets Daily Report
13 March 2026
Yesterday's session showed a risk-off tone amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude prices hit $100/barrel after Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader, vowed to keep the Strait of Ormuz and after Iran reportedly attacked oil tankers and other energy facilities.
Equity indices fell on both sides of the Atlantic, with financial stocks leading the losses as increases in energy prices unveiled tensions in the private credit market. In currency markets, the US dollar continued to act as a safe haven asset, appreciating particularly against the euro. The EURUSD cross is trading below 1.15 as of this morning.
Treasury yields edged higher, flattening the curve, ahead of next week's Fed meeting. Events in the Middle East have delayed the market pricing of the next rate cut to October (from June, before the conflict started). Euro area yields edged higher as well, widening peripheral spreads, with investors also awaiting the ECB’s meeting next week.