Daily Market Price Updates and Commentary 17th June 2026

The day started quietly with Oct’26 continuing in the same area as yesterday afternoon, and across a very slow morning the price sat resolutely between 14.21 and 14.33. As we moved through noon there was some fresh ground broken with a nudge ahead to 14.38, but the buying behind the movement lacked depth and the rally petered out with prices retreating as a result. Withs spreads also quiet except for some Jul/Oct’26 interest either side of -0.50 points you could be forgiven for forgetting that we are in an expiry month, and it was only in the second half of the afternoon that the market showed some genuine signs of life, against the movement generated by the smaller specs as they drove Oct’26 ahead to 14.49. Progress was limited by grower pricing for both Jul’26 and Oct’26, and the price returned to the 14.40 later in the day, however in continuation of yesterdays effort it was a further sign that the pressure applied across the first half of this month has eased. Gains were curtailed during the closing stages to leave Oct’26 settling at 14.37, changing nothing in terms of the wider picture.   

Trading continues to be relatively slow, at least on an outright basis, and this morning saw Aug’26 continuing in the mid to upper $440’s as it struggles to escape from recent parameters. In contrast there was movement being seen for the Aug/Oct’26 spread as rolling starts to pick up ahead of next months expiry, and it was sellers in the ascendancy as the value was kicked back to $6.90. This contributed to an Aug’26 low at $444.20 late in the morning, and while the price then worked back into the range it was on continued slow volume. It was only with a couple of hours remaining that the market finally lifted out of its malaise and began to look higher, a recovering Aug/Oct’26 again helping as Aug’26 moved through $450, and fresh buying following in as the upside resistance levels began to look attainable again. Aug’26 topped out at $454.20, a familiar area for such an outcome, with the closing stages seeing some risk reduction which left the market closing at $452.20, a solid showing but one which was not quite as strong as the buyers would have hoped.