
Oil prices set to drop for a second week
INA-source
Oil prices rose on Friday after settling more than $2 a barrel lower in the previous session, but were set to drop for a second straight week on concerns over a prolonged trade war between the United States and China.
Brent futures rose 90 cents, or 1.4%, to $64.23 a barrel by 0646 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 88 cents, or 1.5%, to $60.95.
Source- reuters

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Shafaq News
7 hours ago
- Shafaq News
Gold firms as traders await US data; silver hits 13-year high
Shafaq News/ Gold held its ground on Thursday as investors looked forward to U.S. non-farm payrolls data due later this week to assess the U.S. interest rate path, while silver prices rose above the key $35 per ounce level for the first time since October 2012. Spot gold was up 0.3% at $3,383.79 an ounce, as of 0933 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3% to $3,407.80. "I would say that the path of least resistance remains to the upside, despite today's sort of flat mode for gold trading. But I think this is more due to traders being in wait-and-see mode ahead of non-farm payrolls," said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at brokerage firm ActivTrades. Wednesday's ADP National Employment Report revealed U.S. private payrolls increased far less than expected in May. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for Fed Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. "I think that a weakening in the US labor market will increase bets on a dovish Fed, so on the Fed cutting interest rates, (which) would be positive for gold," Evangelista added. Gold, a safe-haven asset during times of political and economic uncertainty, tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment. Meanwhile, spot silver jumped 1.7% to $35.55 per ounce, its highest level since February 2012. Silver's "recent underperformance against gold because of economic concerns, given that 70% of silver usage is industrial, it looks that there could be some ratio trading going on now that it has dipped below the 100 level," StoneX analyst Rhona O'Connell said. The gold-silver ratio, denoting how many ounces of silver one ounce of gold can buy, is used by the market to gauge future trends as it indicates silver's current performance against its historical correlation with gold. Platinum rose 3.5% to $1,122.80, its highest level since April 2023, and palladium was up 2.4% at $1,025. "Tangible assets with limited supply such as gold, silver, platinum and copper should be part of a broad portfolio in order to mitigate any economic fallout from geopolitical events, government mismanagement of debt and rising inflation threat" said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. Trump on Wednesday said the nation's debt ceiling should be eliminated, saying he agreed with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren's view on the subject.


Shafaq News
10 hours ago
- Shafaq News
Oil slips on US stockpile build, Saudi Arabia price cuts
Shafaq News/ Oil prices slipped in early trade on Thursday after a build in U.S. gasoline and diesel inventories and Saudi Arabia's cut to its July prices for Asian crude buyers. Brent crude futures fell 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $64.65 a barrel at 0047 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 29 cents, or 0.5%, dropping to $62.58. Oil prices closed around 1% lower on Wednesday after official data showed that U.S. gasoline and distillate stockpiles grew more than expected, reflecting weaker demand in the world's top economy. Adding to the weakness, Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, cut its July prices for Asian crude buyers to nearly the lowest in four years. The price cut by Saudi Arabia, key oil producer within OPEC+ - the oil producing group that includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia - follows the OPEC+ move over the weekend to increase output by 411,000 barrels per day for July. The strategy of OPEC+ group leaders Saudi Arabia and Russia is partly to punish over-producers and to wrestle back market share, Reuters has reported. Meanwhile, Canada prepared possible reprisals and the European Union reported progress in trade talks as new U.S. metals tariffs triggered more disruption in the global economy and added urgency to negotiations with Washington. "Uncertainty fuelled by President Trump's shifting stance on tariffs has intensified fears of a global economic slowdown," analyst Ole Hansen at Saxo Bank said in a note.


Shafaq News
a day ago
- Shafaq News
Oil slips on rising OPEC+ output, despite Canadian supply concerns
Shafaq News/ Oil prices slipped in Asian trade on Wednesday, weighed down by concerns of increasing OPEC+ output and tariff tension that threatens the global economic outlook, though worries about Canadian supply provided a floor. Brent crude futures dipped 23 cents, or 0.4%, to $65.40 a barrel by 0318 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 25 cents, or 0.4%, at $63.16 a barrel. Both benchmarks climbed about 2% on Tuesday to a two-week high, driven by worries over supply disruption from Canadian wildfires and expectations that Iran would reject a U.S. nuclear deal proposal key to easing sanctions on the major oil producer. "Despite fears over Canadian supply and stalled Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, oil markets are struggling to extend gains," said Tsuyoshi Ueno, senior economist at NLI Research Institute, adding that the OPEC+ increases were capping the upside. Ueno said hopes for progress in U.S.-China trade talks were overshadowed by profit-taking, as investors stayed cautious over the broader economic fallout from tariffs. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are likely to speak this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, days after Trump accused China of violating a deal to roll back tariffs and trade curbs. On Tuesday, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cut its global growth forecast as the fallout from Trump's trade war takes a bigger toll of the U.S. economy. Analysts weighed the impact of OPEC+ increases and the Canadian wildfire situation on supply. "The current backwardation in the front of the crude oil futures curve is a result of low inventory balances observed since the beginning of the year," BofA analysts told clients in a note. "In contrast, the contango further out on the curve suggests the market anticipates future slack due to OPEC's planned supply increases and a broader deceleration of the global economy." Markets were still expecting the wildfires that have swept Canada since May to crimp supply, despite a temporary respite from wet weather. "However, this relief could be short-lived amid forecasts for drier and warmer weather towards the end of this week," ING analysts said in a client note. Some analysts expect the loss in Canadian supply to offset more than half the increases next month planned by OPEC+. "Estimates suggest around 350,000 barrels per day have been affected and shut in," said SEB analyst Ole Hvalbye, referring to the impact of the wildfires. "To put this in context, the disruption exceeds three-quarters of the volume OPEC+ agreed to add to the market in July."