LONDON, United Kingdom — The price of the Brent oil, the world’s main international contract, slid Friday while Europe’s major stock markets rebounded as concerns over a war escalation in<\/b>
\nKingdom \u2013 The price of the Brent oil, the world\u2019s main international contract, slid Friday while Europe\u2019s major stock markets rebounded as concerns over a war escalation in Iran eased.
Brent dropped more than two percent, weighing on the share prices of energy majors, after US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would decide whether to join Israel\u2019s strikes on Iran within the next two weeks.
Trump spoke as top European diplomats prepared to meet Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday to discuss the country\u2019s nuclear program.
Asian equity indices closed out the week mixed and the dollar retreated against key rivals.
\u201cNews that president Trump would delay any decision on joining Israel\u2019s attacks against Iran has boosted the market mood,\u201d said Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at trading firm XTB.
\u201cBrent crude has dropped\u2026 as traders price out the worst-case scenario for geopolitics,\u201d she said.
Crude futures had soared and global equities slumped in recent sessions on the Israel-Iran conflict, as investors priced in the risk of tighter oil supplies, which would likely weigh on economic growth.
\u201cWhile 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,\u201d said Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell.
\u201cA meeting of European ministers with their Iranian counterparts to try and formulate a deal today could be crucial.\u201d
The main US oil contract, WTI, rose Friday as a result of low trading volumes following the Thursday market close to mark Juneteenth, and also thanks to data indicating a large drop to American crude stockpiles, analysts said.
While the Middle East crisis continues to absorb most of the news, Trump\u2019s trade war remains a major obstacle for investors as the end of a 90-day pause on his April 2 tariff blitz approaches.
\u201cWhile the worst of the tariffs have been paused, we suspect it won\u2019t be until those deadlines approach that new agreements may be finalized,\u201d said David Sekera, chief US market strategist at Morningstar.
\u201cUntil then, as news emerges regarding the progress and substance of trade negotiations, these headlines could have an outsize positive or negative impact on markets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n