Insights

Weekly Market Commentary – 21st August 2026

21 August 2026

This week the sixty-day “ceasefire” between Washington and Tehran expired with talks stalled and manners abandoned. The White House announced what it called the most crushing economic campaign ever waged on Iran and threatened to bomb Oman, the mediator, while Tehran promised to go fully offensive. Oil rose a fourth week, the energy price cap pushed British inflation to 2.9%, and governments kept borrowing into the storm, with America’s debt passing $40tn. Bond investors strongly objected. Thirty-year Treasury yields touched 2007 highs, gilts passed 5% and Japan neared 3%, and a doubling of Treasury buybacks bought a rally that lasted a day.