Oil retreated from a three-month high as optimism the U.S. and China’s trade deal will spur demand gave way to caution due to the agreement’s limited nature and lack of detail.
Futures fell as much as 0.6% in New York after closing up 1.5% Friday. The dealinvolves China buying more American farm products and making new commitments on intellectual property, while the U.S. will suspend new levies and halve existing tariffs on $120 billion of Chinese imports. The agreement is expected to be signed in early January and released publicly then.
WTI for January delivery fell 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $59.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 9:38 a.m. in Singapore. It finished up 89 cents at $60.07 on Friday, the highest close since Sept. 16, taking its weekly advance to 1.5%.
Brent for February settlement declined 0.3% to $65.01 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange after rising 1.6% Friday and 1.3% last week. The global benchmark was at a $5.25 premium to WTI for the same month.
Source: Bloomberg