Dow Jumps to Fresh Record as Crude Oil Tumbles to 3-Month Low: June 16, 2026

Crude oil tumbled to a 3-month low this morning on optimism that Tehran and Washington will indeed sign a peace deal this week. The plunge in fuel charges has investors lifting exposures to cyclically oriented, rate-sensitive equities while the tech rally takes a breather. The Dow Jones jumped to a fresh record amidst 7 of the 11 major sectors advancing on the session as the S&P 500, Russell 2000 and Nasdaq 100 benchmarks retreated. The gains are overlooking worse-than-expected figures on the economic calendar front, however, which included housing starts plunging to the tombs; the indicator fell to its softest level in six years consistent with the weakest construction activity volume since the depths of the pandemic in May 2020. Additionally, ADP’s weekly hiring numbers reflected a modest deceleration, building permits, which declined, missed projections and import/export inflation surpassed estimates. Elsewhere, yields, the greenback, commodities are sinking, with the Treasury curve descending in bull-flattening motion led by duration. Despite the uncertainty prior to tomorrow’s first Fed monetary policy decision with new Chair Kevin Warsh at the helm, hedging demand is lightening as volatility protection instruments see cheaper premiums.

Housing Starts and Approvals Fall Below Expectations

Government approvals of new housing construction and groundbreaking on new projects both fell in May and underperformed economist consensus estimates. Starts and building permits come in at 1.177 million and 1.413 million seasonally adjusted annualized units, falling below the 1.43 million and 1.42 million levels expected by economists, according to preliminary data from the US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In April, starts and permits came in at 1.392 million and 1.423 million SAAU. Permits for buildings with five or more units fell 3.5% month over month (m/m) but climbed 0.6% m/m for single family projects. Among regions, the combined number of residential building permits climbed 3.1%, 1.6% and 5.5% in the Northeast, South and West m/m but sank 18.1% in the Midwest. Housing starts, which were down 15.4% m/m, included 1.9% and 41.6% declines for single-unit and projects of five or more residences, respectively. Total starts sank 26.8%, 17% and 17.2% m/m in the Northeast, South and West but climbed 3.7% in the Midwest.

Favorable First Impression Dynamics For Warsh

The persistent slide in crude oil prices, which accelerated this week following positive US-Iran developments, is incredibly bullish for markets. The sharp drop in energy costs occurring immediately prior to the inaugural Warsh-led FOMC offers favorable first impression dynamics and raises the likelihood of an increasingly patient central bank that is willing to look through the current short-term inflation as a one-time shock. The backdrop of tempered yields, a weaker greenback, lessening fuel charges and monetary policy stability are also likely to further bolster the ongoing economic reacceleration, which is terrific for corporate earnings and conducive to higher stock prices.

International Roundup

China’s Industrial Production and Unemployment Defy Economic Weakness

China reported yesterday that home prices are continuing to decline, retail sales have weakened and fixed investment has fallen. Industrial production and unemployment, however, bucked the trend. Indeed, mining, factory and utility output was up 4.5% year over year (y/y) in May, surpassing the economist consensus estimate of 4.4% while accelerating from 4.1% in the preceding month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. High-tech manufacturing led the acceleration, climbing 15.1%. Production of 3D printing devices, lithium-ion batteries and industrial robots was particularly strong with growth of 54.4%, 40% and 27.9%. The mining sector also experienced an uptick in activity. In another encouraging development, China’s unemployment rate fell from 5.2% in April to 5.1%. Economists anticipated no change.

Other Metrics Weaken in China

House prices in China fell 3.5% y/y in May, repeating the rate of decline that occurred in April. Prices have been falling for approximately three years as the country struggles with a housing glut and unfavorable demographics. Also in May, retail sales contracted 0.6% y/y, a worse showing than the 0.3% drop anticipated by a consensus of economists and a reversal from the 0.2% April growth. Fixed asset investment also disappointed, sinking 4.1% y/y in May. Economists anticipated a 2.3% decline following the 1.6% drop in April.

Australia Holds Key Interest Rate

In a unanimous vote, policymakers at the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to maintain the organization’s key interest rate at 4.35%. The widely expected decision was followed by Governor Michele Bullock explaining that demand needs to cool to tame inflation that is too high. At the same time, she maintained that the organization believes it is in a better position to combat price pressures. The country’s Consumer Price Index depicted an annual inflation rate of 4.2% in April, which was down from 4.6% in March. The news of easing price pressures was released in May, just a few weeks after the central bank implemented its third 25-bps rate hike. In a press conference this morning, Bullock said the bank hasn’t ruled out future rate increases if needed and that policymakers do not expect an economic contraction during the current quarter. She also said the labor market is tight with the country having a 4.5% unemployment rate.

While Japan Pushes Key Rate Higher

The Bank of Japan bumped its key interest rate from 0.75% to 1% today and announced its tightening campaign, which kicked off in March 2024, is likely to continue. The new rate is the highest in approximately 20 years. Japan is heavily dependent on oil and natural gas from the Middle East. As such, the US-Iran war, which has pushed up energy prices, has caused Japan’s inflation to intensify. While consumer inflation in April was only 1.4%, largely due to fuel subsidies—substantially below the central bank’s 2% target—wholesale inflation for May hit 6%. The central bank also cited the country’s weak yen in justifying the move to 1%. While currency stability isn’t part of the organization’s mandate, the weak yen has contributed to import inflation.  Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida told reporters that policymakers anticipate pushing the rate higher in the foreseeable future, although price increases are stabilizing near the organization’s 2% inflation target. BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda did attend the meeting due to health issues.