Oil prices dip to settle at 3-week low on US and China economic concerns
Losses were limited by optimism U.S. trade deals could boost global economic growth and oil demand in the future.
Brent crude futures fell 74 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $68.44, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 87 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $65.16.
Those were the lowest settlement levels for Brent since July 4 and WTI since June 30.
For the week, Brent was down about 1% with WTI down about 3%.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday in Scotland. European Union officials and diplomats said they expected to reach a framework trade deal this weekend.
The euro zone economy has remained resilient to the pervasive uncertainty caused by a global trade war, a slew of data showed on Friday, even as European Central Bank policymakers appeared to temper market bets on no more rate cuts.
In the U.S., new orders for U.S.-manufactured capital goods unexpectedly fell in June while shipments of those products increased moderately, suggesting business spending on equipment slowed considerably in the second quarter.
Trump said he had a good meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and got the impression that the head of the U.S. central bank might be ready to lower interest rates.
Lower interest rates reduce consumer borrowing costs and can boost economic growth and demand for oil.
In China, the world's second-biggest economy, fiscal revenue dipped 0.3% in the first six months from a year earlier, the finance ministry said, maintaining the rate of decline seen between January and May.
The U.S. is preparing to allow partners of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA (PDVSA.UL), starting with U.S. oil major Chevron (CVX.N), opens new tab, to operate with limitations in the sanctioned nation, sources said on Thursday.
That could boost Venezuelan oil exports by a little more than 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), news U.S. refiners would welcome, as it would ease tightness in the heavier crude market, ING analysts wrote.
Iran said it would continue nuclear talks with European powers after "serious, frank, and detailed" conversations on Friday, the first such face-to-face meeting since Israel and the U.S. bombed Iran last month.
Venezuela and Iran are members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Any deal that could increase the amount of oil either sanctioned country could export would boost the amount of crude available to global markets.
OPEC said the joint ministerial monitoring committee (JMMC) scheduled to convene on Monday does not hold decision-making authority over production levels.
Four OPEC+ delegates said an OPEC+ panel is to raise oil output when it meets, noting the producer group is keen to recover market share while summer demand is helping to absorb the extra barrels. OPEC+ includes OPEC and allies like Russia.
In Russia, the world's No. 2 crude producer behind the U.S., daily oil exports from its western ports are set to be around 1.77 million bpd in August, down from 1.93 million bpd in July's plan, Reuters calculations based on data from two sources show.
In the U.S., energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for the 12th time in 13 weeks, energy services firm Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday.
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The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Donald Trump to open resort's second golf course on final day in Scotland
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Von der Leyen ducks Trump's trade blitz – but deal exposes EU's faultlines
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Euro under pressure as US-EU trade deal fails to impress
SINGAPORE, July 29 (Reuters) - The euro struggled to recoup its steep losses on Tuesday as investors sobered up to the fact that terms of the trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union favoured the former and hardly lifted the economic outlook of the bloc. France, on Monday, called the framework trade agreement a "dark day" for Europe, saying the bloc had caved in to U.S. President Donald Trump with an unbalanced deal that slapped a headline 15% tariff on EU goods. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his economy would suffer "significant" damage due to the agreed tariffs. The euro slid 1.3% in the previous session, its sharpest one-day percentage fall in over two months, on worries about growth and as euro-area government bond yields fell. The common currency last traded 0.07% higher at $1.1594. "It hasn't taken long for markets to conclude that this relatively good news is still, in absolute terms, bad news as far as the near term implications for euro zone growth are concerned," said Ray Attrill, head of FX research at National Australia Bank. "The deal has been roundly condemned by France while others - including German Chancellor Merz, are playing up the negative consequences for exporters, and with that, economic growth." The slide in the euro in turn boosted the dollar, which jumped 1% against a basket of currencies overnight. The dollar held on to gains on Tuesday and knocked sterling to a two-month low of $1.3349. The yen edged marginally higher to 148.49 per dollar. The dollar index steadied at 98.67. "While the U.S. dollar's strength... may reflect the perception that the new U.S.-EU deal is lopsided in favour of the U.S., the U.S. dollar's strength may also reflect a feeling that the U.S. is re-engaging with the EU and with its major allies," said Thierry Wizman, global FX and rates strategist at Macquarie Group. Still, Trump said on Monday most trading partners that do not negotiate separate trade deals would soon face tariffs of 15% to 20% on their exports to the United States, well above the broad 10% tariff he set in April. Elsewhere, the Australian dollar eased 0.05% to $0.6518, while the New Zealand dollar was little changed at $0.5972. The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1813 per dollar. Top U.S. and Chinese economic officials met in Stockholm on Monday for more than five hours of talks aimed at resolving long-standing economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies, seeking to extend a truce by three months. Apart from trade negotiations, focus this week is also on rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan (BOJ). Both central banks are expected to stand pat on rates, but traders will watch subsequent comments to gauge the timing of their next moves.
