Brent crude passed $105 a barrel on Thursday, the highest since May, as West Texas Intermediate tagged $100 and fresh U.S.-Iran strikes near Hormuz kept tanker flows thin. The move followed Tuesday's $99.46 wick after Houthi attacks on Saudi energy sites. National average U.S. gasoline rose another 5 cents overnight. Diesel, the product that showed up in this morning's producer-price file, printed near $5.97 a gallon after a 3-cent overnight lift. August PPI said diesel at the wholesale level jumped 24.1% in a month. That is why $105 is not only a geopolitical headline. It is an inflation input walking into Friday's CPI and the 16 September FOMC. Goldman Sachs had already said Gulf supply remaining badly disrupted could send Brent toward $120. Commercial OECD stock drawdowns have stayed relatively small, which is why $100 was a ceiling earlier this week. Product markets may not wait. See how Tuesday's $99.46 print already broke that ceiling.
Gold lost $4,400 as the 10-year hit 4.93%
Spot gold had held above $4,400 into the European morning, then slipped. BullionVault put the metal down about $65 from Wednesday's rally above $4,400 before the PPI print, then as low as $4,324 within minutes of the 5.4% year-on-year wholesale figure. Other snapshots showed $4,335.63, a 1.5% drop, with spot silver off 4.5% to $64.23. USA TODAY's 8:05 a.m. Eastern print was still $4,371.56, up on the prior close, before the wholesale file hit. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield reached 4.93%, its highest since October 2023. The 30-year tagged 5.34% intraday, the highest since June 2007. Japan's 10-year is already at a 30-year high. Bullion pays no coupon. That yield stack is the cost of holding it. Support traders still mark near $4,282, then the 50-day area around $4,261. A cooler Friday CPI would let the metal reclaim $4,425. A hot print keeps the path toward $4,200 open.
Crypto is trading both files at once
Bitcoin slipped under $77,000 as U.S. spot ETFs posted a second red session. The coin is a scarce-asset trade when oil shocks the dollar, and a duration trade when Warsh's hike odds sit near 74%. Oil feeding August CPI is the hinge. If Friday's inflation file is hot because of energy, the Fed has cover to move on 16 September and gold has a problem. If the core cools and Brent fades back through $100, both gold and Bitcoin get a bid. Neither outcome is in Thursday's $105 wick. That wick is a risk premium. It is not a clearing price until tankers move. For the wholesale print that knocked bullion off $4,400, see August PPI at 5.4% and the ECB's lift to 2.5%.