MARKET NEWS
Oil extends losses as Trump threatens more tariffs on China
BY Ines Ferré Senior Business Reporter.
Oil prices fell as much as 2% on Monday during a chaotic trading session on Wall Street after President Trump threatened additional tariffs on China, a move which sent stocks lower.
West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) futures briefly dropped below $60 per barrel for the first time since 2021 before trimming losses, only to fall back roughly 2%. Brent (BZ=F), the international benchmark, also declined to hover at around $64.10 per barrel.
President Trump said he would impose additional 50% tariffs on China if Beijing did not remove 34% tariffs announced last week in reaction to Washington's sweeping levies against its trading partners revealed on April 2.
Crude briefly pared losses as the S&P 500 (^GSPC), Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) seesawed between negative and positive territory following a social media headline signaling Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs. The White House subsequently said the headline was 'fake news.'
Last week, oil dropped 11% over worries of cratering demand stemming from President Trump's sweeping tariff policy.
Additionally, over the weekend, Saudi Arabia cut its crude export prices to its Asian buyers by $2.30 per barrel for May, just days after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, announced a greater-than-expected output raise next month.
Some Wall Street analysts see a floor on prices ahead.
"We see incentive for defense at $60/b, both from a perspective of OPEC+ budgets and from the perspective that the US Administration likely wants to protect the economics of the US shale industry," Citi analysts wrote in a note on Monday morning.
President Trump said he would impose additional 50% tariffs on China if Beijing did not remove 34% tariffs announced last week in reaction to Washington's sweeping levies against its trading partners revealed on April 2.
Crude briefly pared losses as the S&P 500 (^GSPC), Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) seesawed between negative and positive territory following a social media headline signaling Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs. The White House subsequently said the headline was 'fake news.'
