[MARKET ANALYSIS] Oil prices slightly pulled back after rallying yesterday in the absence of substantial US-Iran progress and amid conflicting reports of a US diesel export ban

Rallies built on stalled US-Iran diplomacy have historically been fragile: the pattern is a headline-driven bid on supply-risk speculation that fades once the absence of concrete progress is confirmed, with the premium bleeding out over subsequent sessions unless talks formally collapse or sanctions enforcement actually tightens. The genuine supply-side signal here is the reported US diesel export ban talk, since an actual restriction would reprice product cracks and Atlantic basin distillate spreads far more durably than diplomatic noise ever does; conflicting reports of this kind have tended to whipsaw the middle of the barrel until an official confirmation or denial lands. The distinction worth drawing is between crude, which trades the geopolitical headline, and products, which trade the policy detail. Gold's retreat against firmer yields and a stronger dollar follows the established inverse-rate channel rather than any metal-specific story, with the cited round-number resistance marking where momentum has previously stalled. Worth watching are any formal statement on export policy, the next round of US-Iran contact, and whether distillate spreads confirm or fade the rumour.