Oil prices on Monday slid off near three-month highs hit last week as investors searched for clarity beyond the initial impact of a trade deal between the United States and China that’s expected to boost flows between the top two global economies, reports Reuters.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 fell 22 cents, or 0.3 per cent to $65.00 a barrel by 0400 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was down 23 cents or 0.4 per cent to $59.84 a barrel.
The United States and China cooled long-simmering trade tensions on Friday, announcing a “phase one” agreement that reduces some US tariffs in exchange for what US officials said would be a big jump in Chinese purchases of American farm products and other goods.
“It seems the market has now fully priced (in) the phase 1 trade agreement, so we are going to need further news if we are going to push through the important (technical) resistance that is just ahead,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.
The Friday agreement averted additional tariffs on Chinese goods totaling $160 billion that the United States was set to impose over the weekend, but investors remained cautious as they awaited precise details of how the trade deal would work.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Sunday the deal will nearly double US exports to China over the next two years and is “totally done” despite the need for translation and revisions to its text.
China’s State Council’s customs tariff commission said on Sunday that it has suspended additional tariffs on some U.S. goods that were meant to be implemented on Dec. 15.
