The price of crude oil was extending its three-month high Monday morning after the US plans to release emergency oil reserves to control rising gasoline prices faced resistance from the International Energy Agency.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for October delivery, the most actively traded contract, added $0.05 to $96.37 a barrel. Last week, oil settled at a 3-month high on supply concerns with tension brewing in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia advised its citizens to get out of Lebanon and Israel indicating its willingness to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. Oil prices were also supported by a dollar that traded lower against most major currencies.
This morning, the U.S. dollar was hovering near its two-week high versus the euro and ticking higher against sterling. The buck was steady around its 5-week high versus the yen and moving higher against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, euro zone construction output declined for the third consecutive month in June, Eurostat reported. In the construction sector, seasonally adjusted production dropped 0.5 percent from a month ago, when it fell 0.2 percent. Building construction was down 0.1 percent after staying flat in May. Likewise, civil engineering fell by 0.7 percent compared to a 0.5 percent rise in the prior month
During this week traders focus will be on the weekly jobless claims report, the Commerce Department's durable goods orders report for July and the minutes of the latest FOMC minutes, apart from a trio of housing reports on new home sales, existing home sales and house prices, which have the potential to move the markets.
Also, focus will be on the crude oil inventories data from the API, due out Tuesday after the market hours, and the EIA due out the subsequent day.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.