Oil prices steady as Russia supply concerns ease after Trump-Putin meet
Brent crude futures dropped 6 cents, or 0.09%, to $65.79 a barrel by 0342 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $62.82 a barrel, up 2 cents, or 0.03%.
US President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday and emerged more aligned with Moscow on seeking a peace deal instead of a ceasefire first.
Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders on Monday to strike a quick peace deal to end Europe's deadliest war in 80 years.
On Friday, Trump said he did not immediately need to consider retaliatory tariffs on countries such as China for buying Russian oil but might have to 'in two or three weeks', cooling concerns about a disruption in Russian supply.
'A non-outcome was largely priced in, the market remains in wait-and-see, more in a bearish context, if more Russian barrels can arrive into the global crude supply pool should hostilities end in Ukraine,' said independent energy analyst Gaurav Sharma.
China, the world's biggest oil importer, is the largest buyer of Russian oil, followed by India.
'What was primarily in play were the secondary tariffs targeting the key importers of Russian energy, and President Trump has indeed indicated that he will pause pursuing incremental action on this front, at least for China,' RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft said in a note.
'The status quo remains largely intact for now,' Croft said, adding that Moscow would not walk back territorial demands while Ukraine and some European leaders would balk at the land-for-peace deal.
Investors are also watching for clues from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comments at this week's Jackson Hole meeting regarding the path of interest rate cuts that could boost stocks to further records.
'It's likely he will remain noncommittal and data-dependent, especially with one more payroll and Consumer Price Index (CPI) report before the September 17 FOMC meeting,' IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note. Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
23 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
PSX sustains record momentum, KSE-100 gans over 1,400 points
There was no stopping the bullish momentum at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), buoyed by earnings optimism, rupee stability, and strong institutional activity from local and foreign investors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained over 1,400 points during the intra-day trading on Wednesday. At 1:05pm, the benchmark KSE-100 Index was hovering at 151,227.48, an increase of 1,456.74 points or 0.97%. Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including PRL, ARL, HUBCO, MEBL, NBP and BOP traded in the green. In a key development for Pakistan's corporate sector, Moody's Ratings upgraded the local and foreign-currency long-term deposit ratings of five Pakistani banks: Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Habib Bank Ltd (HBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and United Bank Ltd (UBL) to Caa1 from Caa2. Rating actions followed Moody's decision to upgrade the government of Pakistan's local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from Caa2, to reflect Pakistan's improving external position, supported by its progress in reform implementation under the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme. On Tuesday, the PSX extended its record-setting rally as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at an all-time high of 149,770.75 points, up 1,574 points or 1.06%. Internationally, global share markets came under pressure on Wednesday after a tech-led selloff on Wall Street, while the dollar gained some ground ahead of a key meeting of central bankers later in the week. Stock futures pointed to a lower opening in Europe and most Asian bourses were in the red, with tech-heavy indexes in Taiwan and South Korea among the biggest losers, in part due to worries about the Trump administration's growing influence on companies in the sector. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid more than 1%, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures lost 0.64% and DAX futures shed 0.63%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.27% and Nasdaq futures lost 0.44%, extending a fall from the cash session overnight. Japan's Nikkei lost 1.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech Index shed 1.3%. This is an intra-day update
Business Recorder
2 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Indian Oil, BPCL resume buying Russian oil for September as discounts widen, sources say
NEW DELHI: India's state-run refiners Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum have bought Russian oil for September and October delivery, resuming purchases after discounts widened, two company officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. The refiners had halted purchases in July due to narrower discounts and after India was criticised by Washington for its purchases of Russian oil. President Donald Trump also threatened an additional 25% levy on Indian goods, effective August 27, to penalize New Delhi for its continued buying of the oil. US Treasury chief Bessent accuses India of profiteering on Russian oil purchases Discounts for Russian flagship Urals crude have widened to about $3 per barrel, making the oil attractive for Indian refiners, while China has stepped up purchases, the officials said. In addition to Urals, IOC has also bought other Russian crude oil grades including Varandey and Siberian Light, they said. Indian companies do not comment on their crude imports. On Monday, IOC, the country's top refiner, told analysts that it would continue to buy Russian oil depending on economics.
Business Recorder
2 hours ago
- Business Recorder
PSX sustains record momentum, KSE-100 gans over 1,100 points
There was no stopping the bullish momentum at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), buoyed by earnings optimism, rupee stability, and strong institutional activity from local and foreign investors. The benchmark KSE-100 Index gained over 1,100 points during the opening hours of trading on Wednesday. At 11:40am, the benchmark KSE-100 Index was hovering at 150,889.48, an increase of 1,118.74 points or 0.75%. Buying interest was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, commercial banks, power generation and refinery. Index-heavy stocks, including PRL, ARL, HUBCO, MEBL, NBP and BOP traded in the green. In a key development for Pakistan's corporate sector, Moody's Ratings upgraded the local and foreign-currency long-term deposit ratings of five Pakistani banks: Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Habib Bank Ltd (HBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and United Bank Ltd (UBL) to Caa1 from Caa2. Rating actions followed Moody's decision to upgrade the government of Pakistan's local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from Caa2, to reflect Pakistan's improving external position, supported by its progress in reform implementation under the IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme. On Tuesday, the PSX extended its record-setting rally as the benchmark KSE-100 Index closed at an all-time high of 149,770.75 points, up 1,574 points or 1.06%. Internationally, global share markets came under pressure on Wednesday after a tech-led selloff on Wall Street, while the dollar gained some ground ahead of a key meeting of central bankers later in the week. Stock futures pointed to a lower opening in Europe and most Asian bourses were in the red, with tech-heavy indexes in Taiwan and South Korea among the biggest losers, in part due to worries about the Trump administration's growing influence on companies in the sector. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid more than 1%, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures lost 0.64% and DAX futures shed 0.63%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.27% and Nasdaq futures lost 0.44%, extending a fall from the cash session overnight. Japan's Nikkei lost 1.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech Index shed 1.3%. This is an intra-day update
