Oil prices were largely steady in Asia hours on Friday after sharp gains in the previous session as focus remained squarely on how an upcoming meeting between U.S. and Russian leaders will affect global supply.
At 22:34 ET (02:34 GMT), Brent Oil Futures for October edged 0.1% lower to $66.79 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures were largely unchanged at $63.0 a barrel.
Both contracts jumped nearly 2% on Thursday, but were still headed for a flat weekly end.
Trump-Putin Alaska meeting eyed
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Alaska on Friday to discuss terms for a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Trump on Wednesday threatened “severe consequences” if Putin did not agree to peace, with the U.S. president having earlier threatened steep tariffs on major buyers of Russian oil, namely India and China.
Trump’s follow-through on his threat, combined with any additional restrictions targeting Russia’s oil industry, could further tighten global supply, adding upward pressure to crude prices.
Analysts say stricter curbs on Moscow’s energy exports would likely exacerbate existing supply constraints, particularly in Europe and parts of Asia that still rely heavily on Russian crude and refined products.
Market impact could swing sharply in the opposite direction if the U.S. moves to ease sanctions or offer limited relief in exchange for concessions from Moscow.
Gains for the day were also tempered by the U.S. producer price index, which came in hotter-than-expected and dampened expectations of an outsized Federal Reserve rate cut next month.
Markets still view a September rate cut as the most likely outcome, but the chances of a quarter-point move slipped from near certainty after the PPI data, while expectations for a half-point cut diminished.
China’s industrial production, Japan’s Q2 GDP in focus
Data on Friday showed that Japan’s economy expanded more than expected in the second quarter, as exports and capital spending remained resilient despite U.S. tariff pressures during the period.
The stronger-than-expected outcome may bolster the case for the Bank of Japan to consider further tightening.
In China, data showed that industrial production in July fell short of expectations as overseas demand waned following earlier front-loading due to U.S. tariffs.
Retail sales figures from the world’s second-largest economy also came in below expectations in July amid weakness in consumer spending
Source :
https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/oil-prices-hold-sharp-gains-ahead-of-trumpputin-meeting-4194460
