Oil prices rose on Monday after hitting five-month lows in the previous session, as investors focused on potential talks between the presidents of the United States and China that could ease trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Brent crude futures rose 65 cents, or 1%, to $63.38 a barrel by 1313 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $59.54 a barrel, up 64 cents, or 1.1%. Both contracts lost around 4% on Friday to settle at their lowest since May.
Market sentiment was also boosted by Palestinian militant group Hamas freeing the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages on Monday under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal. That was seen as a big step towards ending two years of war in Gaza as U.S. President Donald Trump proclaimed the “historic dawn of a new Middle East.”
“Last week’s price meltdown was largely on the back of ceasefire in Gaza and return of U.S.-China trade volatility ahead of the November 10 trade truce deadline,” DBS energy analyst Suvro Sarkar said.
The selloff in markets now looked to be capped by Washington and Beijing’s willingness to negotiate, he said, adding the near-term outlook hinged on the eventual outcome of the trade talks.
Trade tensions flared up last week after China expanded its rare earth export controls. In response, U.S. President Donald Trump, on Friday said he would impose 100% tariffs on China’s U.S.-bound exports.
President Trump remains on track to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea in late October, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, adding there were substantial communications between the two sides over the weekend and more meetings were expected. Oil prices tumbled in March and April at the height of trade tensions between the two countries.
On the demand side, China’s crude imports in September rose 3.9% from a year earlier to 11.5 million barrels per day, customs data showed.
Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries kept its relatively high global oil demand growth forecasts unchanged for this year and nextChina dramatically expanded its rare earths export controls on Thursday ahead of talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
In a monthly report on Monday, OPEC implied the oil market will see a much smaller supply deficit in 2026 as the wider OPEC+ group pushes ahead with output increases.
Source : Reuters
Digital design increasingly confers a competitive edge in global tech markets. This column examines how…
The novelty and speed of diffusion of generative AI means that evidence on its impact…
Much of the debate over the consequences of immigration restrictions for labour market outcomes of…
Macroeconomic models distinguish time-dependent pricing, where firms change prices at fixed intervals, from state-dependent pricing,…
Attending the World Economic Forum in Davos is costly, with estimates ranging between $20,000 and…
In many developing countries, productive firms remain too small, while less productive firms are too…