Oil settled above US$60 a barrel for the first time since missile strikes on Saudi Arabia sparked a record price surge three months ago.
Futures closed 1.5 percent higher in New York on Friday, buoyed by a partial truce in the US-China trade dispute that has imperiled demand all year.
Chinese officials said the countries agreed to hold off on a new round of tariffs set to go into effect in a matter of days.
The bullish momentum was undermined when US President Donald Trump tweeted that existing levies will remain in effect.
“The market has just priced in this outcome to a certain extent already,” TD Securities commodity strategist Daniel Ghali said by telephone. “The hope is that a trade deal will translate into more demand.”
Until Friday’s session, crude was poised to end the week little changed after surging more than 7 percent last week on the strength of a surprise OPEC supply cut.
Money managers boosted bullish bets on crude by the most in more than three years in the days before the trade agreement was struck.
“Risk appetite among financial investors is now likely to remain high thanks to the deal between the US and China,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. Yet “the oil market risks facing a massive oversupply and a pronounced inventory build, at least in the first half of the year.”
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery rose US$0.89 to settle at US$60.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 1.4 percent for the week.
Brent for February settlement advanced US$1.02 to US$65.22 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange, up 1.3 percent for the week.
The global benchmark settled at a US$5.24 premium to WTI for the same month.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
SUPPORT: The government said it would help firms deal with supply disruptions, after Trump signed orders imposing tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico The government pledged to help companies with operations in Mexico, such as iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), shift production lines and investment if needed to deal with higher US tariffs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced measures to help local firms cope with the US tariff increases on Canada, Mexico, China and other potential areas. The ministry said that it would establish an investment and trade service center in the US to help Taiwanese firms assess the investment environment in different US states, plan supply chain relocation strategies and
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such