Brent at $102, WTI at $95: oil prices down as investors hope for peace

Oil prices fell in trading on Thursday, Ma. 21, as investors hope for a deal between the U.S. and Iran that would prevent a resumption of hostilities, CNBC wrote.

The cost of contracts for delivery of the international benchmark Brent with execution in July fell at the moment by 2.7% - to $102.17, follows from the data of Bloomberg. Futures for U.S. WTI crude oil lost 2.6% during trading and fell to $95.76 per barrel. Although prices recovered some losses, they still remained lower than at the close a day earlier.

Earlier in trading on Thursday, the cost of raw materials, on the contrary, rose by more than 3%. The market was pressured by statements of Iran's ambassador to France that Tehran is discussing with Oman the creation of a permanent system of fees for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, through which before the war passed a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies. In addition, the growth of quotations accelerated after the publication of Reuters that the new Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei ordered to keep enriched uranium inside the country. At the same time, US President Donald Trump called the elimination of the Iranian nuclear program one of the key goals of the war.

Oil prices then moved lower as investors hope the U.S. and Iran will still strike a deal and avoid a resumption of hostilities, according to CNBC. Washington and Tehran remain divided over Iran's uranium reserves and control of the Strait of Hormuz, but there are "some good signs" visible in the talks, U.S. Secretary of State Mark Rubio told Reuters on Thursday. Rubio added that he did not want to be "overly optimistic" and suggested watching what happens in the coming days.

US President Donald Trump said that one way or another the US will receive from Iran uranium stockpiles, which are then likely to be destroyed, Reuters writes. In addition, Trump rejected the possibility of any fees in favor of Iran for the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the agency reports.

Thanks to the decline in oil prices and hopes for a deal between the two countries, U.S. stocks also rose in price at trading on Thursday: all four major stock indices rose. The blue-chip index Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.55% and set a new record of 50,285.66 points. The broad market index S&P 500 rose by 0.17%, "technological" Nasdaq Composite - by 0.09%, and the index of small and medium capitalization companies Russell 2000 - immediately by 0.88%. The S&P 500 broke a streak of three consecutive declines.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor