The Energy Information Administration reported a drawdown of 5.8 million barrels in US crude stocks to 415.1 million barrels last week, while analysts expected a drop of 1.3 million barrels.

Gasoline stocks fell by 2.1 million barrels to 227.9 million barrels, while distillate stocks fell by 4.1 million barrels to 105.3 million barrels.

Most US stock indices rose on Wednesday and approached fresh record highs as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East calmed down with investors flocking up to safe havens. 

It comes amid optimism about the Israel-Iran ceasefire, backed strongly with US President Donald Trump.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell testified ahead of Congress that the Federal Reserve isn’t in a hurry to cut interest rates.

Trump continued his attacks against Powell and said he hoped Congress would take “this stubborn and stupid person” into account, adding that America will pay the price of “his stupidity” for many years to come. 

Trump said there’s no inflation in the US and the economy is doing great, and asked once more for interest rates to be down by two or three percentage points, which would save the government $800 billion a year.

On trading, Dow Jones fell 0.1% as of 16:15 GMT to 43,009 points, while S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, or 2.5 points to 6094 points, as NASDAQ climbed 0.3%, or 64 points to 19,977 points. 

Cryptocurrencies gained ground on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump announced the Iran-Israel ceasefire.

By mid Wednesday, bitcoin surpassed $107,000, up 1.8%.

The higher demand on riskier assets comes also Republicans in the Senate propose a new bill to regulate the crypto industry.

The bill allows for crypto trading platforms to register at the CFTC regulatory body, giving it a more legal and lenient status compared to the Biden’s administration. 

The new bill comes a week after the Senate also passed the Stablecoins bill to regulate their trading, which is considered a considerable win to the crypto industry.

Major New Investments

Investors are expanding their investments in crypto companies, with Digital Asset gathering $135 million in financing from Goldman Sachs and Citadel Securities among others.

The company describes itself as a crypto regulator body, and intends to use the financing to expand its blockchain network to connect major institutions to the crypto world. 

Otherwise, net investments into spot Bitcoin ETFs continued to increase for the 11th day in a row, reaching $588.55 million on Tuesday according to SoSoValue data.

Strong Performance 

Bitcoin started the week with a 5% surge in the past two days after the Iran-Israel truce and continued to expand above $106,500 ahead of Powell’s second part testimony ahead of Congress.

Powell took a more conciliatory note in his view of the economy and monetary policies, which boosted the odds of multiple rate cuts this year.

Oil prices rose mildly on Wednesday as investors assess the Israel-Iran ceasefire, with prices boosted even further on data that showed strong US demand.

Brent futures rose 0.7% to $67.62 a barrel as of 10:30 GMT, while US West Texas rose 0.7% to $64.81.

Brent closed at June 10 lows on Tuesday, while US crude closed at June 5, wiping out all the gains made after Israel’s strike against Iran. 

The strike sent oil prices to five-month highs before relinquishing all gains quickly as the crisis calmed down. 

Otherwise, initial data from the American Petroleum Institute showed US crude stocks fell by 4.23 million barrels in the week ending June 20.

Prices are also boosted by the prospects of Fed rate cuts soon, which would bolster economic growth and fuel demand. 

Futures indicate 60 basis points of likely rate cuts by the Fed by the end of the year.

Truce Developments

Initial US intelligence data showed that American strikes failed to completely destroy Iranian nuclear capabilities completely, and only delayed them for a few months. 

On Tuesday, both Iran and Israel said their air war is over with Trump publicly criticizing both sides for truce violation.

Some analysts expect oil prices to range between $65 and $70 a barrel in upcoming days as traders await important US data this week to gather more clues about the future path of Fed interest rates.