
Oil prices little changed as investors eye impact of new sanctions on Russia
Brent crude futures fell 1 cent to $69.27 a barrel by 0153 GMT after settling 0.35% lower on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $67.44 a barrel, up 10 cents, following a 0.30% decline in the previous session.
The European Union approved on Friday the 18th package of sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, which also targeted India's Nayara Energy, an exporter of oil products refined from Russian crude.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia had built up a certain immunity to Western sanctions.
The EU sanctions followed U.S. President Donald Trump's threats last week to impose sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Russia agrees a peace deal in 50 days.
ING analysts said the lack of reaction from oil markets showed that the market is not convinced by the effectiveness of these sanctions.
"However, the part of the package likely to have the biggest market impact is the EU imposing an import ban on refined oil products processed from Russian oil in third countries," the analysts led by Warren Patterson said.
"But clearly, it will be challenging to monitor crude oil inputs into refineries in these countries and, as a result, enforce the ban."
Iran, another sanctioned oil producer, is due to hold nuclear talks in Istanbul with Britain, France and Germany on Friday, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. That follows warnings by the three European countries that a failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on Iran.
In the U.S., the number of operating oil rigs fell by two to 422 last week, the lowest since September 2021, Baker Hughes said on Friday.
U.S. tariffs on European Union imports are set to kick in on August 1, although U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday he was confident the United States could secure a trade deal with the bloc.
"U.S. tariff concerns will continue to weigh in the lead up to August 1 deadline, while some support may come from oil inventory data if it shows tight supply," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
"It feels very much like a $64-$70 range in play for the week ahead."
Brent crude futures have traded between a low of $66.34 a barrel and a high of $71.53 after a ceasefire deal on June 24 halted the 12-day Israel-Iran war. - Reuters
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At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.38 points, or 0.29 per cent, to close at 1,529.38 from Friday's close of 1,533.76. KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia pared earlier gains to close lower on Monday, as investors adopted a more cautious posture ahead of the US tariff negotiation deadline on Aug 1. Turnover improved to three billion units worth RM2.30 billion from 2.86 billion shares worth RM2.16 billion on Friday. In the broader market, losers led gainers 554 to 420, while 488 counters were unchanged and 1,091 untraded, with 43 suspended. The benchmark index opened 4.29 points firmer at 1,538.05 and moved between 1,528.34 and 1,539.38 throughout the trading session. 'Among the FBM KLCI constituents, plantation and utility counters led the gainers, aligning with our weekly view that investor positioning would favour domestically oriented sectors amidst heightened external uncertainty. However, the momentum proved unsustainable into the afternoon, with the index closing lower as investors adopted a more cautious posture ahead of Thursday's US tariff deadline. UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research, Mohd Sedek Jantan, noted that the FBM KLCI commenced the week's trading on a firm footing, posting early gains during the morning session. 'We anticipate markets will continue to consolidate in the near term, awaiting further signals from the Malaysia-US trade talks or any fresh tariff-related announcements from US President Donald Trump,' he told Bernama. Mohd Sedek noted that regional peers delivered a mixed performance on Monday, weighed by profit-taking and concerns over global trade developments. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.68 per cent to close at 25,562.13, South Korea's Kospi garnered 0.42 per cent to 3,209.52, while Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.27 per cent to 4,249.48, and Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 1.10 per cent to 40,998.27. 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Among the most active stocks, Ekovest added four sen to 44 sen, NexG inched up half a sen to 53 sen, and Tanco grew one sen to 92.5 sen. Zetrix AI went down 7.5 sen to 83.5 sen and YTL Corporation slipped three sen to RM2.45. Among top gainers and decliners, SAM Engineering and Equipment rallied 13 sen to RM4.20, while Fraser and Neave and Infomina were 10 sen higher each at RM29 and RM1.1, respectively. United Plantations dropped 32 sen to RM21.90, and Petronas Dagangan lost 26 sen to RM21.44 to lead the losers. Across the broader market, the FBM Emas Index dropped 34.62 points to 11,472.20, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 37.27 points to 11,232.45, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 38.94 points to 11,490.04. The FBM 70 Index fell 77.16 points to 16,530.41 while the FBM ACE Index shaved 2.42 points to 4,636.60. By sector, the Plantation Index grew 28.44 points to 7,463.23, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.25 of a point higher to 157.39, and the Energy Index climbed 0.94 of a point to 740.79. The Financial Services Index sank 45.86 points to 17,408.37. The Main Market volume improved to 1.67 billion units valued at RM2.03 billion from 1.26 billion units valued at RM1.85 billion. Warrant turnover slipped to 1.01 billion units worth RM161.01 million from 1.28 billion units worth RM218.03 million previously. The ACE Market volume rose to 323.13 million units worth RM106.95 million from 313.89 million units worth RM90.97 million. Consumer products and services counters accounted for 236.86 million shares traded on the Main Market; industrial products and services (218.34 million), construction (182.64 million), technology (469.30 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (63.27 million), property (170.58 million), plantation (13.29 million), REITs (15.88 million), closed-end fund (900), energy (110.48 million), healthcare (42.84 million), telecommunications and media (33.72 million), transportation and logistics (39.83 million), utilities (71.07 million), and business trusts (27,000). -- BERNAMA BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies. 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