Weekly settlements: Hormuz talk cuts oil while corn climbs to multiyear highs (2026)

For the week through Thursday, August 27, 2026, oil gave back most of the prior week's Hormuz premium, grains kept climbing, gold edged lower ahead of Jackson Hole, and COMEX copper finished nearly flat after a midweek record test.

Data cutoff: 5:00 p.m. ET on August 27, 2026. Percentage changes compare the same contract from the Aug. 21 close to the Aug. 27 settlement. MarketWatch's Aug. 21 historical Close is used as a close proxy rather than an official exchange settlement. Weekly ranges below are derived from the displayed daily highs and lows, not exchange-published weekly range fields. Gold and WTI roll from last week's August/September contracts to the liquid October months; the week-over-week math stays inside each fixed October contract.

Settlement snapshot

Market	Fixed contract	Aug. 21 reference	Aug. 27 settlement	Week-over-week move	Aug. 21–27 derived range	Aug. 27 session range	Aug. 27 volume / open interest	Week-over-week volume / open-interest change
Gold	COMEX Oct. 2026 (`GCV26`) 1	$4,645.10 close proxy 1	$4,627.80 1	−0.37% ($4,627.80 ÷ $4,645.10 − 1) 1	$4,531.90–$4,718.00, derived 1	$4,581.00–$4,660.80 1	21.5K / 50,634 1 2	Data temporarily unavailable
WTI	NYMEX Oct. 2026 (`CLV26`) 3	$87.06 close proxy 3	$83.53 3	−4.05% ($83.53 ÷ $87.06 − 1) 3	$79.62–$87.51, derived 3	$80.65–$84.27 3	201.59K / 268,872 4	Data temporarily unavailable
Brent	ICE Oct. 2026 (`BRNV26`) 5	$94.39 close proxy 5	$89.70 5	−4.97% ($89.70 ÷ $94.39 − 1) 5	$85.41–$94.83, derived 5	$86.22–$90.34 5	106.83K / 142,291 6	Data temporarily unavailable
Corn	CBOT Dec. 2026 (`CZ26`) 7	508.50¢/bu close proxy 7	533.50¢/bu 7	+4.92% (533.50 ÷ 508.50 − 1) 7	499.00–538.75¢/bu, derived 7	528.00–537.50¢/bu 7	324.51K / 959,167 8	Data temporarily unavailable
Soybeans	CBOT Nov. 2026 (`SX26`) 9	1,239.50¢/bu close proxy 9	1,268.00¢/bu 9	+2.30% (1,268.00 ÷ 1,239.50 − 1) 9	1,216.25–1,272.00¢/bu, derived 9	1,250.75–1,272.00¢/bu 9	149.03K / 473,698 10	Data temporarily unavailable
Copper	COMEX Sep. 2026 (`HGU26`) 11	$6.5870/lb close proxy 11	$6.5895/lb 12	+0.04% ($6.5895 ÷ $6.5870 − 1) 11	$6.4790–$6.7775/lb, derived 11	$6.5265–$6.6320/lb 11	20.21K / 18,370 12	Data temporarily unavailable

The calculated percentage changes use the displayed reference and settlement values, rounded to two decimals. Week-over-week volume and open-interest changes remain unavailable on the public quote pages used for this recap, including a Barchart historical-download check that did not expose comparable open-interest endpoints for Aug. 21 and Aug. 27.

Oil: Hormuz talk pulled the premium down, then Trump pushed back

Oil had the largest weekly decline. October WTI settled at $83.53 and October Brent at $89.70, down 4.05% and 4.97% from their Aug. 21 closes. 3 5

The selloff tracked hopes that Iran and Oman could reopen more of the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reported that a senior Iranian source said the two countries were working on details of an agreement, and that Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had agreed how to share the waterway and its revenues. During Wednesday's session both benchmarks fell to their lowest levels since Aug. 10 before paring losses. Only five commodity vessels had transited the strait on Tuesday, below a 10-day average of 15 and far below pre-war levels. 13

Thursday reversed part of that move. Brent settled up 2.1% at $89.70 and WTI up 1.6% at $83.53 after a Wall Street Journal report said President Trump was not interested in returning to the terms of a June memorandum of understanding with Iran. Washington confirmed it was not in talks with Tehran, and Trump said the United States would keep punishing Iran economically. Flows through the strait improved only modestly on Wednesday, with 10 commodity vessels transiting versus the recent 15-vessel 10-day average, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters. 14

The EIA report for the week ended Aug. 21 did not rescue the weekly oil close. Commercial U.S. crude inventories rose just 0.1 million barrels, to 428.9 million, while distillate stocks fell 2.2 million barrels, to 103.4 million, and total motor gasoline inventories fell 2.5 million barrels. Refineries ran at 97.4% of operable capacity. Four-week total products supplied averaged 20.5 million barrels per day, down 3.0% from a year earlier. 15

The oil signal is still a negotiation premium, not a resolved supply story. Hormuz talk can keep cutting the front of the curve when vessel counts stay low, but Thursday's Trump headline shows how quickly that premium can return. The next useful confirmation is either a durable rise in strait transit counts or another week of product draws that outruns the crude stock build.

Gold: a small weekly dip ahead of Jackson Hole

October COMEX gold slipped from $4,645.10 to $4,627.80, a calculated 0.37% decline. The contract's derived weekly range was $4,531.90–$4,718.00. 1

Rates news leaned against a larger gold rally. Reuters said Wednesday's U.S. inflation print rose more than expected in July and briefly pushed September rate-hike odds above 40% before they slipped back to 35.9% on Thursday for a hike of at least 25 basis points, according to CME FedWatch. The dollar index was roughly flat on Thursday at 99.18, but it rebounded 0.35% over the week after a 0.83% drop the prior week. Attention then shifted to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole speech. 16

Gold therefore spent the week consolidating a large prior move rather than extending it. The next catalyst is whether Warsh's Friday remarks reprice the September meeting or leave the current one-in-three hike odds intact.

Grains: export demand and yield concern carried the bid

Corn and soybeans rose 4.92% and 2.30% on the same-contract comparison. December corn settled at 533.50¢, and November soybeans at 1,268.00¢. Corn's derived weekly high of 538.75¢ marked a fresh contract high on the MarketWatch history. 7 9

USDA's Aug. 24 Crop Progress report still showed a crop advancing on schedule, with a softer condition reading. Corn dough reached 86%, up from 76% a week earlier and above the 82% five-year average. Corn dented rose to 45% from 29%. Corn condition was 43% good plus 14% excellent, or 57%, down from the prior week's 60% good-to-excellent reading reported by AgWeb. Soybeans setting pods rose to 91% from 85%, above the 88% five-year average. Soybean condition was 48% good plus 12% excellent, or 60%, versus 49% plus 12%, or 61%, the prior week. 17 18

Demand supplied the clearer weekly bid. On Aug. 21, USDA reported private sales of 205,000 metric tons of corn to unknown destinations, 712,000 metric tons of soybeans to China, and 720,000 metric tons of soybeans to unknown destinations for 2026/27 delivery. On Aug. 25 it reported another 132,000 metric tons of soybeans to unknown destinations, and on Aug. 26 another 333,000 metric tons of soybeans to China. 19 20 21

AgWeb's Aug. 26 market note tied the corn extension to technical buying, lower yield concerns, and a tightening balance sheet, and said old-crop September corn traded above $5.00 for the first time since October 2023. The same report said funds were also reacting to China soybean buying and a 3-point drop in corn good-to-excellent ratings to 57%. 18

The grain rally therefore rested on verified export sales and a softer condition print inside a still-advanced crop calendar. A pause in China flash sales or a rebound in good-to-excellent ratings would change that balance; the reports this week establish neither.

Copper: a midweek record test, a flat weekly close

September COMEX copper rose from $6.5870 to $6.5895 per pound, a calculated 0.04% gain. The derived weekly range was $6.4790–$6.7775. 11 12

Midweek price action was sharper than the weekly close. Mining.com reported that September COMEX copper rose as much as 1.8% to $6.7270 per pound on Aug. 25, topping the prior record of $6.7140 set Aug. 12. Reuters tied the squeeze to the prospect of U.S. refined-copper tariffs of 15% from Jan. 1, 2027, rising to 30% from 2028, which has pulled metal into the United States. COMEX inventories had risen for 46 straight days to a record 675,185 metric tons, while available LME inventories were only about 90,000 tons after large warrant cancellations. 22 23

COMEX still finished the fixed-contract week almost unchanged. The week says the tariff-and-inventory dislocation can still produce intraday records without forcing a higher Thursday settlement. The next confirmation is whether COMEX stock builds keep accelerating while the LME cash premium stays elevated.

Cross-market read

Oil spent the week pricing a possible Hormuz reopening, then a partial policy reversal. Iran-Oman talks cut the premium through Wednesday; Trump's rejection of a return to June ceasefire terms lifted Thursday's close. Vessel counts remain the hard check.
Grains led the complex on demand and yield concern. Large soybean and corn private sales plus a softer corn condition reading outweighed the still-advanced crop calendar.
Gold consolidated. Sticky July inflation and a weekly dollar rebound left October gold slightly lower ahead of Warsh's Jackson Hole remarks.
Copper's weekly close hid a midweek record. Tariff-driven U.S. inventory builds and tight LME availability still matter more for the path of the curve than for this Thursday's flat settlement.

The next useful evidence is follow-through: another week of Hormuz transit data or product draws for oil, broader USDA weekly export-sales totals for grains, Warsh's Jackson Hole signal for gold, and confirmation that copper's COMEX stock build is still accelerating while LME availability stays scarce.