The Weekly Edge: Week-Ahead & Look-Back, Mon 20 – Fri 24 Jul 2026

The Weekly Edge for the trading week of Monday 20 to Friday 24 July 2026, with the look-ahead to Monday 27 to Friday 31 July.

Headline: a US–Iran energy shock drove crude around nine per cent higher, lifted US Treasury yields to their highest since January 2025 and kept the dollar firm; US technology wobbled on artificial-intelligence spending nerves, while much of Europe and Asia held up.

Look-back highlights

• Equities: Europe led (IBEX 35 +1.9%, FTSE 100 +1.3%, DAX +1.1%); the Nasdaq 100 fell 1.6% on an AI-capex scare; Hong Kong rose 1.6% and a holiday-shortened Nikkei added 0.8%, while India's Nifty lagged at -2.3%.
• FX: the dollar firmed; USD/JPY reached a multi-decade high near 163.8; sterling was the soft major, with GBP/USD down about 1.0%.
• Commodities: WTI rose about 9% to near $89; gold added roughly 1% near $4,056 after a mid-week round-trip; silver outperformed, up close to 4.6%.

The week ahead is risk-cautious into a pivotal Federal Reserve decision on Wednesday, a live Bank of England meeting on Thursday, four mega-cap technology earnings reports and a wall of US growth and inflation data. Energy-driven inflation keeps the dollar bid and yields firm.

Download the full report (PDF)

Educational only, not financial advice.