Financial & Forex Weekly Recap: October 19 – 23, 2026
Oil climbed about 4% on Saudi attacks and Iran strike fears, gold fell 4.0% to near $4,000, tech stocks sold off, and the dollar index slipped.
Oil climbed, gold sank and stocks cracked on Thursday, which made for an odd week. WTI rose about 4.2% to near $105.29 and finished close to its high for the week. Gold lost about 4.0% and closed near $4,000, after trading under that level on Friday.
The S&P 500 fell about 1.2% on Thursday and ended the week down about 0.3%. Bitcoin finished barely higher, up less than 0.1%, after a swing of more than 4% from its Wednesday high. Treasuries rallied, with the 10-year yield easing from about 5.08% to 5.00%, and the dollar index slipped about 0.2% to near 101.8 while the Aussie and Canadian dollar led the majors and the euro came last. Prices run from each market’s weekly open to Friday’s 4 pm ET close.
Table of Contents
| Gold | US Dollar Index |
| S&P 500 | Bitcoin |
| WTI Crude Oil | USD vs Majors |
Gold (XAU/USD)
GOLD (XAU/USD) – Chart Faster With TradingView
Gold lost about 4.0% this week, and the worst of it came on a day that looked tailor-made for a rally. It opened the week near $4,167, topped out near $4,187 in the early hours of Monday and finished near $4,000 on Friday. The low, near $3,978, arrived on Friday morning.
The slide began when the 10-year Treasury yield climbed toward 5.15% on Monday. Gold pays no interest, so a higher yield gives investors a reason to prefer assets that do, which fits a drop of about 0.6% from the weekly open that day. Tuesday and Wednesday then went quiet, with the metal parked between about $4,110 and $4,155.
Thursday was that day. Gold fell about 2.6%, from near $4,135 to near $4,028, even though the 10-year yield dropped from about 5.12% to 4.97% and the S&P 500 lost about 1.2%. Falling yields usually help gold, and a shaky stock market often does too. This time gold sold off alongside both. Somebody may have needed cash badly enough to dump a haven.