☀️ NordFX MORNING UPDATE | May 12, 2026 🌏 Asian Markets Asia trades mixed this Tuesday. Nikkei +0.36% to 62,644 | Hang Seng +0.34% to 26,495 | Taiwan +0.10%. On the downside: KOSPI -1.45% | ASX 200 -0.40% | Shanghai Composite -0.15% | NZX 50 -1.56%. Markets remain resilient overall - investors have grown accustomed to buying dips despite elevated oil prices and ongoing Iran war risks. 🇺🇸 Wall Street - Monday's Close S&P 500 +0.19% to 7,412 | Nasdaq +0.10% to 26,274 | Dow +0.19% to 49,704 - both S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted fresh all-time record closes. Trump rejected Iran's latest peace proposal as "TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE," yet equities barely flinched. Copper surged to a record close of $6.46/lb, up 13% in 2026. 💶 Forex EUR/USD holds near 1.1734 | USD/JPY at ~157. The dollar firmed on safe-haven demand as US-Iran tensions escalated. GBP/USD continues to test the key 1.3622 resistance with bullish momentum building ahead of UK gilt auction data. 🪙 Gold Spot gold trades near $4,714/oz, intraday range $4,678 - $4,750. All eyes on today's US April CPI print - the key catalyst for a potential volatility breakout. Markets price in headline CPI at ~0.6% m/m and ~3.7-3.8% y/y, driven by energy. 🛢️ Oil Brent rises to ~$105/bbl (+0.73%) | WTI range $96.93 - $100.35. Trump declared the US-Iran ceasefire on "massive life support." Saudi Aramco CEO warned the market is losing ~100M barrels of supply per week. Drone strikes near Qatar and UAE interceptions continue to stoke supply fears. ₿ Bitcoin BTC trades at ~$81,201, -0.12% in 24h | Market cap ~$1.63T. Spot BTC ETFs recorded ~$620M net inflows last week - the sixth consecutive week of institutional inflows, totaling over $3.4B in new capital. 📅 Key Events Today ▪️ 🇺🇸 US CPI April - 8:30 AM ET 🔥 ▪️ 🇬🇧 UK 5-Year Gilt Auction ▪️ IEA Monthly Oil Market Report