Financial Markets Daily Report26 June 2026
Risk sentiment improved on Thursday, before late-session Hormuz tensions soured it. In commodities, crude oil prices reversed course and ended the day rising after of a missile strike on a container vessel in Hormuz, while natural gas prices of European benchmarks fell. Gold rose on safe-haven demand.
Sovereign bond yields fell slightly on both sides of the Atlantic. Eurozone short-term rates were down as investors' expectations for an ECB's third rate hike in this cycle eased. In the US, short-term Treasury yields fell after the PCE print for May came in slightly below expectations in the month-on-month reading.
In this context, in currency markets the euro appreciated sligthly against its peers. In stock markets, Asian indices had risen earlier in the session, as the partial Hormuz reopening and strong results from Micron due to high demand for chips lifted sentiment on tech stocks. European indices rose too, while in the US the S&P closed flat and the Nasdaq declined.