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Daily Update — March 13, 2026

Europe’s Energy Vulnerabilities; Assessing Wildfire Risk With AI; and US Dollar Rally

Today is Friday, March 13, 2026, and here’s your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.

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Energy Transition & Sustainability

Fog of war clouds European energy transition outlook, exposes gas ‘Achilles heel’: experts

The war in the Middle East has brought Europe’s energy import dependency back into focus. Policymakers are already signaling the need to intensify renewables deployment, though inflationary and interest rate risks from a prolonged conflict could jeopardize the pace of the region’s energy transition.

 

"This situation has really, in many ways, exhibited very clearly what Europe's Achilles’ heel is," Société Générale Head of Commodity Research Ben Hoff said in a March 9 interview with Platts, a part of S&P Global Energy. "What's happened is that the exposure has shifted from Russian pipeline to LNG imports largely from the US, and to a smaller extent from the Middle East."

Artificial Intelligence

Listen: Next in Tech | Ep. 258: CEO Series: Wildfire Risk With Bryan Spear

 

Wildfires have received significant media attention in recent years, growing in intensity and frequency. To help reduce the impact of these events, AI is being tapped to assess risk and support strategic planning. 

 

In this episode of the “Next in Tech” podcast’s CEO series, Technosylva CEO Bryan Spear joined host Eric Hanselman to discuss how AI can help mitigate the risk of environmental disasters and extreme weather through real-time insights and predictive modeling.

Economy

US dollar rises with more room to run amid Iran war, surging oil prices

                                                                                                                                         

The US dollar index has rallied since the start of the war in the Middle East, trading as high as 99.41, up 2.1% from the end of February. This rise could be sustainable and may signal a reversal of the dollar’s extended downward trend, according to foreign-exchange strategists.

 

“I think the strong performance of the dollar over the past week has helped settle the argument about whether it is a safe-haven currency still,” Jane Foley, head of foreign exchange strategy at Rabobank, said in an interview with S&P Global Market Intelligence. “It will therefore likely shake the view that the dollar has entered into a period of structural weakness, which could deter big bets against the dollar in the coming months."

In case you missed it

  • The value of venture capital funding rounds for defense technology startups totaled $29 billion in 2025, nearly tripling 2020’s total, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Meanwhile, M&A transaction values for the sector have trended downward after peaking in 2021.
  • The 50 largest US banks recorded $25.580 trillion in combined assets at the end of 2025, with Santander Holdings USA and SoFi Technologies shaking up the rankings after posting double-digit percentage growth in the fourth quarter, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows.
  • The number of ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz increased to eight on March 10 from three the day before, according to a March 11 report by Commodities at Sea, a product of S&P Global Energy.

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