Crude oil falls nearly 2 pc on hopes of easing West Asia tensions

Global crude oil prices declined nearly 2 per cent on Friday as hopes of easing West Asia tensions and a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon dampened supply concerns, even as markets remained cautious amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.

Mumbai: International crude oil benchmarks declined about 2 per cent on Friday on hopes of an end to the West Asia conflict that began on February 28.

Brent crude futures traded at $97.99 per barrel, hitting an intra-day low in early trade and declining over 1 per cent.

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At the same time, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell nearly 2 per cent to an intra-day low of $92.91.

However, in the previous session, the global benchmark settled around 5 per cent higher at $99.39. Similarly, US WTI finished over 2 per cent higher at $93.32.

Meanwhile, on the domestic Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude oil declined as much as 2.6 per cent to Rs 8,625.

Traders were buoyed by the US President’s announcement of a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The President also said Tehran had offered to refrain from possessing nuclear weapons for more than 20 years.

“I hope Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time. It will be a GREAT moment for them if they do. No more killing. We must finally have PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he said on the social media platform Truth Social.

Speaking to the media, Trump said, “We will see how things unfold, but I believe we are very close to a deal with Iran.”

On the equities front, trends were mixed across global markets. Domestic benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened on a flat note on Friday.

Asian markets traded in negative territory, with major indices down up to 1 per cent.

In the US, Wall Street ended on a mildly positive note, with the Nasdaq closing up 0.36 per cent and the S&P 500 rising 0.26 per cent.