Maradok 
Kereskedési feltételek
Products
Eszkozok
Global markets entered the new week highly volatile, with geopolitical tensions alongside technological breakthroughs and sharp trend reversals.
The threat of unprecedented US sanctions on Iran has had a mixed effect on commodities. While oil is pulling back as market participants await details from the Treasury, gold has surged past $4,600 an ounce amid escalation in the Strait of Hormuz.
At the same time, financial assets are moving in different directions — Bitcoin made a powerful run toward $79,000, ending months of underperformance versus equities, while in the tech sector Nvidia announced a strategic $7 billion deal with startup Poolside.
Below, we analyze the four key factors affecting global investment today.
The oil market started the week with declines. Traders are watching Washington's actions nervously: investors are trying to anticipate the consequences of new anti-Iran sanctions, the details of which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to present soon.
Brent crude fell to around $92 a barrel, and WTI dropped below $86, partially reversing recent gains. Last week both benchmarks rose by more than 5% amid tougher rhetoric from the Trump administration. The pullback has also hit related markets — natural gas, gasoline and fuel oil fell in the 1.68–1.88% range.
The decline came despite sharp comments from President Donald Trump on August 19, in which he called the upcoming measures "the most crushing economic operation ever carried out against any country" and warned of serious economic consequences for those who support Iran.
In his Financial Times column, Bessent reiterated that stance, saying "the economic D-day is coming at dawn," and promised to provide additional details at a Monday press conference.
Last Thursday, the US called on allies and China to join the pressure campaign — this is taking place against the backdrop of a protracted Middle East war that has been running for six months. Vice President J.D. Vance characterized the plan as "delicate balancing," while acknowledging that Iran will "seek to put economic pressure on us."
If you want to trade the assets mentioned in this article (oil, natural gas), please note they are available on the InstaForex platform. To get started, open a trading account with InstaForex and download the company's mobile app.
Bitcoin has finally come out of the shadows: last week the leading cryptocurrency staged a strong rally, jumping from $63,000 to almost $79,000. The move ended a prolonged three-month stretch of underperformance versus the S&P 500 — the longest such lag in six years.
The acceleration began on Wednesday after a statement from the US Treasury helped ease tension in the bond market. By Thursday morning BTC had surpassed $71,000, reached $76,000 by Friday, and climbed above $78,000 over the weekend.
A number of factors drove the rise. Over the week, about $1.92 billion of new money flowed into bitcoin ETFs. Against the backdrop of expectations around US crypto regulation, investor interest increased.
An additional shock came from a record short squeeze of $2.7 billion — the largest wave of liquidations since reporting began in 2021. On top of that, roughly $3.5 billion in margin positions were liquidated on August 20–21.
Blockchain analytics firm Glassnode notes that the rally ended bitcoin's longest period of relative underperformance versus the S&P 500 in six years. According to Glassnode, over the past three months BTC outperformed the benchmark index on only about one third of trading days — and this happened amid a continuous record rise in AI-related stocks. In a report dated August 17, the firm said this was the longest such series in their six-year observation history.
The ratio of BTC's relative returns to the S&P 500 fell from roughly 3x to about 2.2x during that period, but after the recent rally it has jumped back to roughly 2.82x. Still, market sentiment remains cautious: bitcoin's relative strength index (RSI) has moved into overbought territory — historically such moves have been followed by pullbacks.
Market forecasts vary. CNBC reports that traders on the Kalshi platform on average expect bitcoin to be around $75,000 by year-end, while prediction markets put the probability of reaching $90,000 by December at roughly 42%.
The next major level analysts are watching is the $83,000–$85,000 supply zone — where additional resistance could accumulate and slow further gains.
On Friday, gold broke through $4,600 an ounce and hit a three-month high. The precious metal rose more than 2% on the day, reaching $4,622 an ounce. Investors rushed back into safe-haven assets amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran: stalled peace talks and threats of escalation in the Strait of Hormuz have shaken global markets.
The rally followed a week of sharply deteriorating diplomatic relations between Washington and Tehran. A memorandum of understanding expired on August 17. President Donald Trump rejected its extension, demanding that Iran "raise the white flag of surrender."
In turn, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that if the United States does not meet the conditions of the temporary peace agreement, Iran will shift to a "fully offensive" posture in the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict has already affected shipping: according to Kpler, only six cargo vessels passed through the strait on Tuesday versus a 10-day average of 11 vessels. Increased economic pressure on Tehran has also taken on a political dimension — on August 19 the UAE suspended all trade and financial relations with Iran.
Nvidia has struck a major deal: the company agreed to pay $6 billion for a license to Poolside's AI models and to invest an additional $1 billion in the startup. The $7 billion package is aimed at creating a powerful open-weight model designed to challenge both Chinese players (such as DeepSeek, Kimi K3) and leading US labs like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Bloomberg first reported the deal on August 21. Under the agreement, Poolside's pre-money valuation is $12 billion, four times last year's $3 billion valuation. Nvidia will also offer jobs to 109 Poolside employees. Notably, however, the startup will remain independent and continue to operate as a separate company.
The Wall Street Journal says the tech giant's main goal is to create one of the world's most powerful open-weight models. Such models typically cost less to run and give developers greater freedom to fine-tune and integrate them than closed solutions.
For Nvidia, this is not just a technical move but a strategic one: the company aims to prevent concentration of AI technologies in the hands of a few players and intends to encourage a more open ecosystem.
The license is non-exclusive: Poolside retains the ability to work with other buyers, while Nvidia gets access to key developments and platform tools.
This event is far more than a simple deal. We are witnessing a shift in the rules of the AI industry: open models are mounting a serious challenge to closed ones. This will affect everyone — from cloud services to developers — and will further fuel technological competition between the US and China.
If you follow the tech market and plan to trade related assets, such as Nvidia shares and other AI-sector instruments, note that the appropriate trading instruments are available on the InstaForex platform. To trade, you can open an account with InstaForex and download the company's mobile app.
InstaForex analytical reviews will make you fully aware of market trends! Being an InstaForex client, you are provided with a large number of free services for efficient trading.
