
Oil prices fall on easing Middle East risks
Brent crude futures fell 19 cents, or 0.28%, to $67.58 a barrel by 10:45 a.m. ET, ahead of the August contract's expiry later on Monday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 58 cents, or 0.89%, to $64.94 a barrel.
Last week, both benchmarks posted their biggest weekly decline since March 2023, but they are set to finish higher in June with a second consecutive monthly gain of more than 5%.
A 12-day war that started with Israel targeting Iran's nuclear facilities on June 13 caused Brent prices to surge above $80 a barrel after the U.S. bombed Iran's nuclear facilities and then slump to $67 after President Donald Trump announced an Iran-Israel ceasefire.
The market has stripped out most of the geopolitical risk premium built into the price following the Iran-Israel ceasefire, IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.
Further weighing on the market, four delegates from OPEC+, which includes allies of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said the group was set to boost production by 411,000 barrels per day in August, following similar-size output increases for May, June and July.
OPEC+ is set to meet on July 6 and this would be the fifth monthly increase since the group started unwinding production cuts in April.
In the U.S., the number of operating oil rigs, an indicator of future output, fell by six to 432 last week, the lowest level since October 2021, Baker Hughes said.
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Forbes
27 minutes ago
- Forbes
Trump Signs The Bill Today: 4 Winners Of The New ‘Big Beautiful Bill
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28 minutes ago
American bombs in Iran also reverberate in China and North Korea
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'Before the strikes, Pyongyang and Beijing might have assumed that Trump is risk averse, particularly based on his behavior his first presidency despite some tough talk," Kim said. Ten days into the war between Israel and Iran, Trump made the risky decision to step in, hitting three nuclear sites with American firepower on June 22 in a bid to destroy the country's nuclear program at a time while negotiations between Washington and Tehran were still ongoing. The attacks prompted a pro forma Iranian retaliatory strike the following day on a U.S. base in nearby Qatar, which caused no casualties, and both Iran and Israel then agreed to a ceasefire on June 24. North Korea, China and Russia all were quick to condemn the American attack, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it 'unprovoked aggression,' China's Foreign Ministry saying it violated international law and 'exacerbated tensions in the Middle East,' and North Korea's Foreign Ministry maintaining it 'trampled down the territorial integrity and security interests of a sovereign state.' While the strikes were a clear tactical success, the jury is still out on whether they will have a more broad strategic benefit to Washington's goals in the Middle East or convince Iran it needs to work harder than ever to develop a nuclear deterrent, possibly pulling the U.S. back into a longer-term conflict. If the attack remains a one-off strike, U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region likely will see the decision to become involved as a positive sign from Trump's administration, said Euan Graham, a senior defense analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. 'The U.S. strike on Iran will be regarded as net plus by Pacific allies if it is seen to reinforce red lines, restore deterrence and is of limited duration, so as not to pull the administration off-course from its stated priorities in the Indo-Pacific,' he said. 'China will take note that Trump is prepared to use force, at least opportunistically.' In China, many who have seen Trump as having a 'no-war mentality' will reassess that in the wake of the attacks, which were partially aimed at forcing Iran's hand in nuclear program negotiations, said Zhao Minghao, an international relations professor at China's Fudan University in Shanghai. 'The way the U.S. used power with its air attacks against Iran is something China needs to pay attention to,' he said. 'How Trump used power to force negotiations has a significance for how China and the U.S. will interact in the future.' But, he said, Washington should not think it can employ the same strategy with Beijing. 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Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
2 American Companies to Buy and Never Sell
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Before you buy stock in Caterpillar, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Caterpillar wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $692,914!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $963,866!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,049% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025 Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends NextEra Energy. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 2 American Companies to Buy and Never Sell was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio