Oil’s surge warns the worst could be ahead

Oil prices continue to rise despite emergency measures — including strategic reserve releases from International Energy Agency members and US naval escorts for commercial vessels — crude prices remain elevated. Brent Crude briefly surged to $100 per barrel, while WTI approached $98, keeping energy markets under intense pressure. The surge in oil prices is already feeding into global inflation fears, just as investors were hoping for interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve later this year. As such, today’s reaction to the US PCE read will likely be asymmetric and won’t reverse the dull outlook. Listen to find out more! Ipek Ozkardeskaya has begun her financial career in 2010 in the structured products desk of the Swiss Banque Cantonale Vaudoise. She worked at HSBC Private Bank in Geneva in relation to high and ultra-high net worth clients. In 2012, she started as FX Strategist at Swissquote Bank. She worked as a Senior Market Analyst in London Capital Group in London and in Shanghai. She returned to Swissquote Bank as Senior Analyst in 2020, and launched her own website ipekScope.com in 2025.