[MARKET ANALYSIS] Crude futures reverse earlier gains on possible Iran-Oman Hormuz agreement; PBoC builds gold reserve for 22nd consecutive month

Crude futures initially started the week on the front foot, steadily rising to a peak of USD 93.04/bbl and USD 97.94/bbl, respectively, in WTI Oct'26 and Brent Nov'26. This comes following US strikes against 3 Iranian crude tankers on Saturday in retaliation for the IRGC targeting US Navy warships with ballistic missiles. Additionally, Iran's navy said it targeted three oil tankers that were travelling through unauthorised routes in the Strait of Hormuz and three additional US vessels in other areas. As the European session got underway, energy benchmarks pulled back and now reside near session lows; WTI and Brent just shy of USD 91/bbl and USD 96/bbl. The downside came amid comments by the Iranian Foreign Minstry spokesperson, stating that negotiations with Oman on Hormuz has reached the final stages and that an agreement on a temporary Hormuz route will be made in the coming days. Elsewhere, OPEC+ stuck with plans to keep oil production quotas unchanged for October, as expected. Spot gold started on the back foot as the energy complex lifted on the aforementioned geopolitical updates. However, as crude prices fell, the yellow metal began to lift off its session low of USD 4384/oz and has since regained the USD 4400/oz handle, with the session high at USD 4435/oz. An update from China: the PBoC has, again, boosted its gold reserves for a 22nd straight month. 3M LME Copper traded either side of the USD 14.4k/t throughout the Asia-Pac session before steadily climbing to a peak of USD 14.47k/t amid weakness in the dollar.