Daily Market Price Updates and Commentary 8th April 2026

With news of a ceasefire in Iran prompting crude values to fall back beneath $100 per barrel there was selling around for the opening, and May’26 duly plunged from 14.45 to 14.20 in the first few minutes. A 14.19 low was recorded a short time afterwards and the picture appeared weak, however the selling then began to ease which allowed for partial recovery of the losses. The lack of pressure was likely twofold, with recent days having seen losses having already shown detachment from the energy sector / macro, while questions remain as to whether the ceasefire will hold longer term through a mutual resolution. Regardless the price continued to rally and by late morning May’26 reached 14.51, though this still left a notable gap to 14.57 on the daily and intra-day charts. Through noon the price consolidated at the upper end of todays band, and while there was subsequently a pullback to the 14.20’s against small trader selling we again returned to sit in the 14.40’s with a couple of hours remaining. With brent values still sitting in the lower / mid $90’s there was no reason for the recovery to build beyond this point and so the later afternoon saw values fade away once again, and with few outright buyers to be found the price returned to the 14.20’s where it sat only just above the morning lows heading into the close. The outrights had been a poor relation as the first day of the index roll window saw a mighty 95,000 lots change hands for May/Jul’26 (inc. TAS) though its impact on the price was minimal with the value only falling by a few ticks to -0.24 points at the end of the session. May’26 closed at 14.23 and on the chart shows potential for additional correction, though with a gap remaining overhead and consumer interest resurfacing the market may now have chance to take stock / reassess in the coming days.

With price falls for the energy sector and No.11 due to the 2-week ceasefire in Iran already providing influence the market was called lower, sending Aug’26 in between $426.00 and $422.40. This proved to be a low mark as buying ten followed in from consumers eager to take advantage of the drop and price recent activities, and across the next 90 minutes the price worked back through to the $430.00 area where progress stalled. There was a further nudge to $431.10 which closed the remainder of the overnight chart gap, however with sentiment now having returned to a more fundamental driven view the closing of the gap proved sufficient for buyers to stand back again. A dip back to the mid $420’s followed but did not last for long with the market climbing its way back towards $430, though with most of the activity from smaller traders it lacked any impetus to make additional progress. Through the last couple of hours, the influence of macro factors drew fresh selling alongside long liquidation and sent the flat price back down through the range, though the opening lows were not threatened and Aug’26 ended the day at $425.50. May/Aug’26 volumes dropped a little with the spread remaining between -$4/-$2, and with May’26 open interest now down to 25,489 lots that trend of lower volume will continue over the next week. White premium values picked up as the market held away from the lows late on, with Aug/Jul’26 settling at $106.50.