{"id":83061,"date":"2026-08-17T18:06:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/?p=83061"},"modified":"2026-08-17T18:06:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:06:54","slug":"general-market-analysis-17-08-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/general-market-analysis-17-08-26\/","title":{"rendered":"General Market Analysis \u2013 17\/08\/26"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>US Stocks Pull Back as Middle East Tensions Increase \u2013 Nasdaq down 0.3%<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>US equity markets pulled back from record levels on Friday as tensions increased further across the Middle East and US economic data again came in below expectations. The Dow Jones fell 0.20% to close at 53,732, while the S&amp;P 500 declined 0.17% to 7,785. The technology-heavy Nasdaq also moved lower, falling 0.28% to 26,729 as investors continued to assess the potential economic impact of the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>US Treasury yields initially moved lower following weaker-than-expected Retail Sales and Consumer Sentiment data but reversed course later in the session as concerns over the Middle East increased. The 2-year Treasury yield finished 2.7 basis points higher at 4.169%, while the benchmark 10-year yield climbed 4.9 basis points to 4.692%. The US Dollar moved in the opposite direction, with the Dollar Index falling 0.33% to 99.64 as traders continued to reassess the US interest-rate outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oil prices pushed higher as the US threatened to increase economic pressure on Iran following further attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, with the disruption bringing traffic through the key global energy route close to a standstill. Brent crude gained 1.67% to US$88.52 a barrel, while WTI rose 1.42% to US$82.40. The ongoing disruption is keeping global energy supplies and inflationary concerns firmly in focus, with any further escalation likely to provide additional support for oil prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gold also benefited from the increased geopolitical uncertainty, gaining 0.60% to US$4,376.40 an ounce as traders moved back towards traditional safe-haven assets. The precious metal is now pushing back towards recent highs, with further developments across the Middle East likely to remain a key driver of market sentiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dollar Under Pressure After Weak US Data<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The dollar is again trading near monthly lows as the new trading week kicks off today after a series of weaker data prints hit the market last week. The DXY is trading just above August lows of 99.40, and further pressure during the next couple of sessions could see it break lower into fresh trading ranges. Much lower-than-expected results for PPI and Retail Sales data, as well as a big drop in Consumer Sentiment figures on Friday, have pushed back bets of a Fed rate hike considerably, with the market now pricing a 33% chance of a hike in September, down from 45% just a week ago. Geopolitical factors are adding some support to the greenback, with inflationary concerns still relevant with regard to higher oil prices due to the war in the Middle East; however, if we do see some signs of progress on that front, we should see the dollar push lower against most of the majors in the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Geopolitics Set to Dominate Market Flow Once Again<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Geopolitical updates from the weekend are expected to provide the main direction for markets as the new trading week gets underway. The ongoing disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains a major concern for traders, particularly with oil prices already pushing back towards recent highs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The macroeconomic calendar will also provide some opportunities for volatility today, with Chinese Industrial Production (exp +5.0% y\/y), Retail Sales (exp +1.5% y\/y) and Unemployment Rate (exp 5.1%) data due during the Asian session before Canadian CPI (exp +0.4% m\/m, Median +2.0% y\/y) takes the focus later in the day. Any significant surprises in the data could provide additional volatility, although geopolitical developments are likely to remain the dominant influence on broader market sentiment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US Stocks Pull Back as Middle East Tensions Increase \u2013 Nasdaq [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":83062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[463],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-market-analysis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83063,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83061\/revisions\/83063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icmarkets.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}