Oil drops, stocks climb as Trump delays Iran move
International crude benchmark contract Brent dropped more than two per cent, weighing on the share prices of energy majors, after US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would decide whether to join Israel's strikes on Iran within the next two weeks.
Traders said it suggested Trump preferred negotiations to end the fighting, as top European diplomats met Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday to discuss a "diplomatic solution" to end the war.
US indices opened slightly higher on Friday, though analysts said volumes were likely to be lacklustre with many traders taking a four-day weekend after Thursday's Juneteenth holiday.
European stock markets were up in afternoon deals while Asian equity indices closed out the week mixed.
"News that president Trump would delay any decision on joining Israel's attacks against Iran has boosted the market mood," said Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at trading firm XTB.
"Brent crude has dropped... as traders price out the worst-case scenario for geopolitics," she said.
Crude futures had soared and global equities slumped in recent sessions as the Israel-Iran conflict showed no signs of easing, with investors pricing in the risk of tighter oil supplies that would likely weigh on economic growth.
"While the immediate prospect of a US intervention in Iran may have diminished, the fact this is reportedly a two-week hiatus means it will remain a live issue for the markets going into next week," said Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell.
"A meeting of European ministers with their Iranian counterparts to try and formulate a deal today could be crucial."
While the Middle East crisis continues to absorb most of the news, Trump's trade war remains a major obstacle for investors as the end of a 90-day pause on his April 2 tariff blitz approaches.
"While the worst of the tariffs have been paused, we suspect it won't be until those deadlines approach that new agreements may be finalised," said David Sekera, chief US market strategist at Morningstar.
"Until then, as news emerges regarding the progress and substance of trade negotiations, these headlines could have an outsize positive or negative impact on markets," he said.
In Europe, Eutelsat shares soared 27 per cent on the Paris stock exchange after the French government said it would lead a 1.35 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in the European satellite operator.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged a "speedy reconquest" for Europe in the space sector in the face of growing American competition, in a speech at the Paris Air Show.
Agence France-Presse
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
27 minutes ago
- The National
Oil prices rise after Trump-Zelenskyy meeting as Ukraine ceasefire remains elusive
Oil prices rose on Monday after US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope that talks with European leaders at the White House could pave the way for a trilateral summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end Moscow's years-long invasion of Ukraine. The talks held at the White House were expected to focus on security guarantees for Ukraine, a possible annexation of Ukrainian territory to Russia and a peace agreement. 'We are ready for a trilateral [meeting with Russia],' Mr Zelenskyy said during a meeting with Mr Trump. At the meeting with Mr Trump and European leaders, he said he would be willing to have the US President present during a meeting with Mr Putin. The hastily arranged meeting came days after Mr Trump and Mr Putin held talks in Anchorage, Alaska. Brent, the global benchmark for crude, rose 0.97 per cent to $65.54 a barrel as of 4pm ET. West Texas Intermediate, which tracks US crude, was 1 per cent higher at $62.60. Oil prices surged to $140 a barrel in March 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and sanctions imposed on Moscow by Washington and London. Prices fell in the months since with factors including an inflationary surge, a decrease in Chinese demand and fears of a global economic slowdown. Mr Trump has lately sought to punish Russia by doubling the tariff rate placed on India to 50 per cent as New Delhi continues to buy oil and military machinery from Moscow. The latest tariff is due to go into effect in a couple weeks. 'India's dependence on Russian crude is opportunistic and deeply corrosive of the world's efforts to isolate Putin's war economy,' White House trade adviser Peter Navarro wrote in an opinion piece for the Financial Times on Sunday. 'In effect, India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs.' Eyes turn to Jackson Hole Major indexes on Wall Street, meanwhile, were largely muted as traders awaited incoming economic data and Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's address at Jackson Hole this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 33.93 points, or 0.08 per cent, when trading closed on Monday. The S&P 500 ticked 0.01 per cent lower while the Nasdaq Composite rose slightly at 0.03 per cent. Mr Powell was due to speak at the annual symposium in Wyoming as traders increasingly expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates when it meets next month. The odds of a September rate cut have climbed considerably since a weaker-than-expected jobs report last month. The Fed has held interest rates steady this year after cutting rates three times to its current range of 4.25-4.50 per cent in the final three months of 2024. 'The risk of an earlier cut increased following the release of the July employment report. However, of the Fed's two policy objectives, inflation is still furthest from its target and that gap is likely to widen as the full impact of tariffs becomes apparent in the data,' Oxford Economics lead analyst John Canavan wrote to clients. The Fed is also due to release minutes from its July meeting on Wednesday, where traders will scrutinise a debate among Fed officials in which two governors dissented against last month's decision to hold rates steady. Big-box retailers including Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart and Target were also scheduled to release their earnings reports this week. Jobless claims and fresh housing data are due to be released before Mr Powell's keynote address on Friday.
The National
36 minutes ago
- The National
Conservative network Newsmax agrees to pay $67m in defamation case over 2020 election claims
The conservative network Newsmax will pay $67 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of defaming a voting equipment company by spreading lies about President Donald Trump 's 2020 election loss, according to documents filed on Monday. The settlement comes after Fox News paid $787.5 million to settle a similar lawsuit in 2023 and Newsmax paid what court papers say was $40 million to settle a libel lawsuit from a different voting machine manufacturer, Smartmatic, which also was a target of pro-Trump conspiracy theories on the network. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis had ruled earlier that Newsmax did defame the Denver company Dominion Voting Systems by airing false information about the company and its equipment. But Mr Davis left it to a jury to eventually decide whether that was done with malice, and if so how much Dominion deserved from Newsmax in damages. Newsmax and Dominion reached the settlement before the trial could take place. The disclosure came as Mr Trump, who lost his 2020 re-election bid to the Democrat Joe Biden, vowed in a social media post on Monday to eliminate mail-in ballots and voting machines such as those supplied by Dominion and other companies. It not known how the Republican President could achieve that. The same judge also handled the Dominion-Fox News case and made a similar ruling that the network repeated numerous lies from Mr Trump's allies about his 2020 loss despite internal communications showing Fox officials knew the claims were bogus. 'How long are we going to play along with election fraud?' the Newsmax host Bob Sellers said two days after the 2020 election was called for Mr Biden, according to internal documents revealed as part of the case. Newsmax took pride that it was not calling the election for Mr Biden and, the internal documents show, saw a business opportunity in catering to viewers who believed Mr Trump won. At Newsmax, employees repeatedly warned against false allegations from pro-Trump guests such as lawyer Sidney Powell, according to documents in the lawsuit. In one text, even Newsmax's owner Chris Ruddy, a Trump ally, said he found it 'scary' that Mr Trump was meeting with Ms Powell. Dominion was at the heart of many of the wild claims aired by guests on Newsmax and elsewhere. The network retracted some of its more bombastic allegations in December 2020. Though Mr Trump has insisted his fraud claims are real, there is no evidence that they were, and the lawsuits in the Fox and Newsmax cases show that some of the President's biggest supporters knew they were false at the time. Mr Trump's attorney general at the time, William Barr, said there was no evidence of widespread fraud. Mr Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits alleging fraud, some before Trump-appointed judges. Numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results, including some run by Republicans, turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error and affirmed Mr Biden's win.
Zawya
an hour ago
- Zawya
President Ramaphosa receives briefing from President Putin
President Cyril Ramaphosa has today, 18 August 2025, received a briefing from President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, on the outcome of the meeting with President Donald Trump, that was recently held in Anchorage, Alaska in the United States of America. President Putin expressed satisfaction with the manner in which his talks with President Trump proceeded and the emerging alignment on the peace process. President Ramaphosa appreciated the briefing from President Putin. The President underscored the need for more compromise on key issues for lasting peace to be attained between Russia and Ukraine. Both leaders once again pledged to maintain open lines of communication and to continue their cooperation on issues of bilateral interests. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.
