Market News

Oil (BZ=F, CL=F)

Oil prices slumped on Tuesday morning, as signs of progress on Russia-Ukraine peace talks lifted expectations for a potential easing of sanctions on Moscow, allowing for greater supply back onto the market.

Brent crude (BZ=F) futures slid 1.2% to $59.82 per barrel at the time of writing, while West Texas Intermediate futures (CL=F) dropped 1.3% to $56.08 a barrel.

On Monday, US president Donald Trump said: "We had numerous conversations with president Putin of Russia, and I think we’re closer now than we have been ever."

Trump's comments come following talks in Berlin between US and Ukrainian negotiators, alongside European officials.

Ukraine's top peace negotiator, Rustem Umerov wrote in a post on social media platform X on Monday: "Over the past two days, Ukrainian-US negotiations have been constructive and productive, with real progress achieved."

ING's head of commodities strategy Warren Patterson and commodities strategist Ewa Manthey said: "Oil markets will be watching developments closely, given the significant supply risk from sanctions on Russia.

"While Russian seaborne oil exports have held up well since the imposition of sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, this oil is still struggling to find buyers," they said. "The result is a growing volume of Russian oil at sea."

Meanwhile, weak economic data from China has raised concerns about slowing demand from the world's largest importer of oil, adding to concerns about an oversupply in the market.