Markets
WTI Crude Closed Near $98 and Silver Bounced 3.4% as Yields and the Dollar Fell
US crude rose 3.03% to $97.97 on October 15, its highest close since mid-September and sixth straight gain. Silver recovered 3.39% from an 11-month low, gold miners rose 4.34% and the dollar index fell 0.54%.
A falling dollar and falling yields gave commodities their best day in weeks. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.03% to $97.97 a barrel, its highest close since September 18 and its sixth consecutive gain. Brent, the international benchmark, was nearly unchanged at $105.92, so the gap between the two narrowed to about $8 — a sign that US supply is tightening faster than global supply.
Energy stocks did not follow the US benchmark. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) fell 1.58% to $66.56 after two record closes; Exxon Mobil lost 1.32% and Chevron 1.22%. After a five-day run to record highs, a pause on a day when money moved into healthcare and retailers is not surprising.
Precious metals recovered part of Wednesday's losses. The iShares Silver Trust (SLV) rose 3.39% to $51.92 after its lowest close since November 2025, the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) 1.79% to $382.71, and the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) 4.34% to $87.02 — the miners, as usual, amplifying the metal. The dollar index fell 0.54% to 102.00, and the 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.09%, its lowest since September 22.
The two days together are a clean illustration of how metals trade on rates. On Wednesday a hot CPI report raised the odds of a Fed hike, the dollar rose and silver fell 6%; on Thursday a producer price report that was hot only because of gasoline sent yields down, and the move reversed. Nothing about gold or silver changed in between.
Oil at $98 with the Strait of Hormuz still disrupted keeps energy at the centre of the inflation story. It was gasoline that pushed September's producer prices up 1.3% and retail sales up 0.8%, and it is gasoline that will decide whether October's numbers look the same.