New York (awp / dpa) – Oil prices rose on Monday, benefiting in particular from the weak dollar, but their progress was hampered by tensions between Washington and Beijing as well as by the spread of Covid-19.
A barrel of North Sea Brent for September delivery ended at $ 43.41 in London, up 0.2% or 7 cents from Friday’s close.
In New York, WTI’s US barrel for the same month gained 0.8% or 31 cents to $ 41.60.
The dollar index, which measures the value of the greenback against a basket of other currencies, fell to its lowest in two years on Monday, weighed down by grim prospects for the US economy.
A decline in the US dollar tends to favor the prices of black gold, denominated in dollars, making them cheaper for buyers with other currencies.
However, for Eugen Weinberg of Commerzbank “the risks of a less robust recovery in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic and political tensions between the United States and China” prevent prices from pulling away from the zone of 40 dollars a barrel, in which they evolve for several weeks.
China took possession on Monday of the American consulate in Chengdu (southwest of the country), considering this diplomatic mission as a “hub of espionage and theft of intellectual property”.
The move is the Communist regime’s response to the Trump administration’s forced closure of its Houston consulate, amid accusations of espionage.
On the pandemic front, the signals were mixed with a daily number of new infections in the United States which fell below the 60,000 mark for the first time since July 13, according to the count established Sunday by Johns Hopkins University .
But China reported 61 new Covid-19 patients on Monday in 24 hours, the largest daily increase since mid-April, after the appearance of outbreaks of infection in three provinces.
“The decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to ease production cuts to 7.7 million barrels per day (mbd) from August is also weighing on prices,” added Ipek Ozkardeskaya, from Swissquote Bank.
The black gold production cuts of the cartel and its allies are currently set at 9.6 mbd.
afp / rp
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