Financial news on April 22, 2026

4. The Eurozone’s ZEW Economic Sentiment Index for April stood at -20.4; Germany’s April ZEW Index was -17.2—the lowest since December 2022—far worse than economists’ expectation of -5.0. 5. International oil prices surged sharply: WTI crude futures rose 3.2% to $90.22 per barrel; Brent crude futures rose 3.75% to $99.06 per barrel, driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East. 6. International precious metal prices declined broadly: spot gold fell 2.13% to $4,719.70 per ounce; COMEX gold futures dropped 1.87% to $4,738.50 per ounce; spot silver fell 3.87% to $76.63 per ounce. 7. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.33% to 98.38; EUR/USD fell 0.37% to 1.1743; GBP/USD declined 0.21% to 1.3507; USD/JPY rose 0.36% to 159.4005. 8. U.S. Treasury yields rose across the board: the 2-year yield increased by 5.44 basis points to 3.775%; the 10-year yield rose by 4.35 basis points to 4.294%; the 30-year yield climbed by 2.13 basis points to 4.901%. 9. Europe’s three major stock indices all closed lower: Germany’s DAX Index fell 0.6% to 24,270.87; France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.14% to 8,235.72; the UK’s FTSE 100 declined 1.05% to 10,498.09. 10. U.S.-listed Chinese stocks broadly declined: the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 2.6%; Bilibili dropped over 6%; iQIYI fell more than 5%; Tencent Music fell over 4%; Vipshop declined over 3%. 11. The Bank of Japan warned that overseas hedge funds have emerged as a new risk source in the Japanese government bond market and stressed the need to closely monitor the impact of international capital flows on Japan’s bond market. 12. The U.S. government’s vigorous push to advance stablecoins has triggered collective concern among central bank officials worldwide. Top financial policymakers—including the General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements and the Governor of the Bank of England—have warned that this trend could exacerbate “dollarization” risks in emerging-market economies. 13. Russell Hardy, CEO of Vitol—the world’s largest independent oil trader—warned that even if the Middle East war ends on April 22, the oil market will still lose at least one billion barrels of crude and refined product supply. 14. An IEA report revealed that global solar photovoltaic power generation added 600 terawatt-hours last year, accounting for over 25% of the global energy supply increase—marking the first time renewable energy has led global energy supply growth. 15. The German Center for Automotive Research released its ‘2026 Automotive Innovation Report,’ ranking BYD first globally with a score of 157—surpassing last year’s champion, Volkswagen. 16. Apple announced that John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, will succeed Tim Cook as CEO effective September 1; Cook will transition to Executive Chairman of the Board. 17. SpaceX announced it has reached an agreement to acquire AI programming startup Cursor for $60 billion later this year—or alternatively pay $10 billion for a strategic partnership. 18. According to SpaceX’s IPO prospectus summary, as of end-2025, its total assets amounted to $92 billion and total liabilities to $50.8 billion; Starlink’s operational revenue reached $4.42 billion in 2025.

Global oil inventories are nearly depleted! Major oil companies issue 'supply cutoff' warnings

Jintai Capital Global crude oil supply buffers are rapidly depleting. The Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded. ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips—the three largest oil majors—have jointly issued stern warnings: global crude oil inventories—including those held in warehouses, national reserves, and aboard tankers at sea—are being rapidly drawn down, leaving virtually no buffer capacity for the market. As a result, fueling costs are rising steadily, and supply-chain strain is spreading into manufacturing—many factories are already feeling the pressure. Experts caution: the most severe shockwaves of this energy crisis may still lie ahead; what markets are currently experiencing may be merely the ‘tip of the iceberg.’ 01 ｜Global inventories nearing exhaustion—oil price hikes are just the beginning This week, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips issued successive public warnings. They stated that each additional day the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked accelerates the depletion of global crude oil reserves. Chevron’s Chief Financial Officer bluntly told reporters in an interview that the emergency ‘buffer inventory’ is now nearly exhausted. He specifically cautioned that this supply disruption is unprecedented in scale—and the pressure currently felt by markets is only the tip of the iceberg; the true shockwaves may yet lie ahead. For ordinary American consumers, this crisis has already hit their wallets directly: average gasoline prices per gallon have risen approximately $1.40. Jay Singh, Head of U.S. Oil & Gas Research at Rystad Energy, remarked: “The U.S. is insulated—but not isolated—from the global energy crisis.” As inventories continue to dwindle and export capacity hits its ceiling, how long this insulation can hold has become the most urgent question confronting global energy markets. With inventories nearing depletion, mounting upward pressure on prices is accumulating—and future inflationary pressures may spread further, driving up prices for downstream goods across the board. 02 ｜Asia rushes to buy U.S. crude, yet energy giants dare not ramp up production The ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has fundamentally reshaped the global crude oil trading landscape. A large number of tankers are departing from Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico bound for Japan, Thailand, and Australia—making the U.S. the ‘last resort’ for global energy consumers. This shift is most pronounced in Asia. Historically, Japan sourced roughly 90% of its crude oil from the Middle East and purchased almost none from the U.S. Now, however, Japanese refiners have snapped up at least 8 million barrels of U.S. crude scheduled for delivery in August—within just the past few days. Refineries in Singapore and South Korea are also significantly increasing purchases—particularly South Korea, which has long been the second-largest buyer of U.S. crude and continues to show robust demand. Yet despite these impressive export figures, industry insiders are growing concerned about how long this situation can persist. Traders point out that export infrastructure and shipping capacity along the U.S. Gulf Coast are nearing their breaking point. Theoretically, U.S. export capacity could peak at 10 million barrels per day—but the sustainable long-term upper limit is around 6 million barrels per day. Even under short-term maximum effort, exports would barely approach 7 million barrels per day. This constraint stems primarily from tight vessel availability and prohibitively high costs associated with ship-to-ship transfers (STS) at sea—severely limiting the volume of oil that can actually be shipped abroad.

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