- Discover our weekly market outlook, exploring themes and events that forged financial flows throughout the week.
- Participants went through a rollercoaster of emotions in the past week, from a rejected Iranian offer to a severe hawkish repricing and finally, a promising path to peace.
- Traders are getting ready for next week’s important bet for peace.
- Get ready for next week’s action by exploring upcoming events across global markets.
Week in Review: Earnings Break Records, Pulling Markets Higher
Market participants endured an absolute rollercoaster of emotions over the past five sessions, navigating a market that violently whipsawed between extreme fear and sudden euphoria. The week kicked off with intense anxiety as the United States firmly rejected an initial Iranian diplomatic offer, a move that immediately spiked crude oil prices and threatened to reignite severe inflationary pressures.
Compounding this geopolitical dread was a severe, hawkish monetary repricing. Following the official confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the incoming Federal Reserve Chairman, institutional capital aggressively scrambled to price in a revolutionary, austere era of balance sheet reduction.
This emerging trade unleashed a ruthless wave of US Dollar dominance, temporarily suffocating equities, precious metals, and crypto beneath the weight of surging bond yields.
However, just as the technical charts looked their bleakest, the narrative completely flipped. A sudden, highly promising path to peace emerged, supported by strategic Middle Eastern mediation.
This breakthrough triggered a massive risk-on relief rally heading into the weekend.
As the geopolitical clouds finally begin to clear, traders are aggressively recalibrating their portfolios, getting ready for next week’s incredibly important bet on global stability.
Weekly Performance Across Asset Classes
Weekly asset performance. Source: TradingView, May 22, 2026.
With oil tumbling 7%, the rest of the market shines. European stock markets are once again at the top of global assets.
Keep an eye on the huge outflows in cryptos towards the end of the week.
The Week Ahead: GDP Releases and a Potential Path to Peace
Asia Pacific Markets: RBNZ Meeting, Australian and Japanese CPI
The entire action in Asia will be focused on Wednesday and Thursday, with a key inflation release for Australia, shortly followed by the RBNZ rate decision, where a hike is mostly priced.
And do not forget the Japanese Tokyo CPI on Thursday evening.
Europe and UK Markets: German CPI and Many Central Bank Speeches
The action will be relatively dull in Europe with only central bank speeches, all the way to Friday with German CPI.
Expect European traders to focus on US Dollar flows and the entire Iran peace process.
North American Markets: US and Canadian GDP
Next week will focus on the American and Canadian GDP releases, in between a few lower-tier numbers.
Do not forget to keep a close eye on US markets and the entire US-Iran peace process, with huge expectations for an actual entente.
Next Week’s High-Tier Economic Events
Next week’s economic calendar. Courtesy of TradingEconomics.
Safe trades and keep an eye on US-Iran developments.
