Written on: June 30, 2026
Energy futures are trading mixed in early trading with news of the US and Iran preparing for talks and strength in the US dollar index likely weighing on the price action, while higher trade in global equities were supportive. Market traders are looking ahead to Canadian monthly GDP data, the US Case-Shiller Home Price Index, US Consumer Confidence data, the Chicago PMI, and to the US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for further direction.
Bloomberg News reports that the US and Iran have both sent representatives to Doha, the capital of Qatar, in preparation for another round of peace talks today. According to Bloomberg, Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a press briefing that no “high-level” discussions are expected to take place in today’s US-Iran meeting.
The unemployment rate in Japan held steady at 2.5% in May, as widely expected. Japanese industrial production, however, unexpectedly fell by 1.7% year-on-year last month, against forecasts calling for output to increase by 1.2%. In China, the CFLP Composite PMI for June came in at 50.6, above the 49.9 Econoday consensus. Asian stock market closed mostly higher overnight as China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.50% and the Nikkei in Japan gained 0.86%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell by 0.63%.
Brent crude settled $1.16 higher at $73.15 a barrel, WTI crude rose by $1.52 to $70.75 a barrel, gasoline futures shot up 10.43 cents to settle at $3.0614 per gallon, heating oil closed 12.35 stronger at $3.3317 per gallon and natural gas futures fell 5.0 cents to $3.181 per MMBTU.
The National Hurricane Center continues to track a disturbance off the southeastern US coast, still giving it a low 10% chance of cyclone formation over the next 7 days.