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ROI-What just happened? The financial week in five charts
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ROI-What just happened? The financial week in five charts
Jun 19, 2026 3:21 AM

(The opinions expressed here are those of the authors.)

By Anna Szymanski

June 19 (Reuters) - Every Friday, Reuters Open Interest

(ROI) wraps up the financial week with five key charts,

highlighting major trends - and the surprising, sometimes

overlooked moves that defined the past five days.

1. OIL SHOCK, MUTED PANIC

RON BOUSSO, ROI Energy Columnist: Crude oil prices and

volatility did not surpass all-time highs recorded in recent

years, despite an unprecedented Middle East supply shock. This

may be because traders were making a bet that President Donald

Trump would not allow the conflict to spiral into a full-blown

economic crisis. So the more inventories were being run down,

the closer we were getting to a deal. It was ​a risky call, but

it proved correct.

2. SPACEX OPTIONALITY

ANNA SZYMANSKI, ROI Editor-in-Charge: Following its blockbuster

IPO last week, SpaceX saw its market cap soar past

Amazon's ( AMZN ) $2.65 billion valuation on Tuesday to briefly

top Microsoft's ( MSFT ) $2.92 billion. This was largely thanks

to frenzied trading in its newly listed options. In fact, over

500,000 SpaceX options contracts changed hands within the first

hour of trading on Tuesday, with that number rising to more than

1 million by early afternoon, according to Trade Alert data.

Given SpaceX's relatively small float and eye-watering

valuation, investors should probably expect volatility ahead.

The company's more than 8% combined drop on Wednesday and

Thursday may be an early taste of this.

3. CHINA SLAMS THE REFINING BRAKES

CLYDE RUSSELL, ROI Asia Commodities and Energy Columnist:

China's refiners dipped into stockpiles for the first time in 14

months in May as the Iran war boosted crude prices. But the

draw, at around 500,000 barrels per day, was modest given the

drop in imports last month by about 3 million bpd from pre-war

levels. As total available crude oil fell, refiners cut

processing to multi-year lows - an extreme reaction that

underscores China's position as the major consumer best placed

to manage major supply disruptions.

4. DIVERGING PATHS

ANNA SZYMANSKI, ROI Editor in Charge: The Bank of England kept

its policy rate unchanged at 3.75% on Thursday, ​arguing it

would be premature to raise rates given uncertainty over the

strength of inflation pressures - particularly after the interim

U.S.-Iran deal, which should help ease energy prices. The

Federal Reserve also held its target range at 3.50%-3.75% this

week, as Kevin Warsh made his debut as chair on Wednesday. But

while the hawkish shift in rate expectations for the BoE has

started to moderate, the same cannot be said for the Fed.

5. COPPER BULLS PILE IN

ANDY HOME, ROI Metals Columnist: The breakdown of open interest

in the LME copper options market shows a heavy skew towards call

options, a snapshot of the bullish sentiment currently

underpinning prices. Investors are still looking for upside

exposure to copper, even after its strong run.

Opinions expressed are those of the authors. They do not reflect

the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is

committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

(By Anna Szymanski

Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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