Investing.com - Crude oil prices settled sharply higher Monday as receding trade-war fears triggered risk-on sentiment, while an uptick in Middle East geopolitical tensions raised the prospect of a disruption in crude supplies.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for May delivery rose 2.2% to settle at $63.42 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent gained 2.41% to trade at $68.61 a barrel.
Crude prices rose by the most in two weeks as a rejuvenated risk-on rally in global stock markets encouraged traders to resume their bullish bets on crude after U.S. officials softened their tone on the prospect of a trade war with China.
“I don’t know whether we’re going to have tariffs or not,” said White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Monday. “We may. On the other hand we may be able to settle this with negotiations.”
Crude oil prices were also bolstered by rising geopolitical uncertainty after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed that Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, would “pay a price” for an alleged gas attack in Syria.
Crude prices clawed back Friday’s 2% losses which followed fears of a U.S.-China trade war and an uptick in the number of the U.S. oil rigs pointing to a continued expansion in domestic output.
The number of oil rigs operating in the US rose by 11 to 808, the highest level since March 27, 2015, according to data released Friday from energy services firm Baker Hughes.
The strong start to the week for crude prices comes ahead of monthly reports from OPEC and the International Energy Agency, slated for Thursday and Friday, respectively. The Energy Information Administration, meanwhile, will release its monthly energy outlook report Tuesday and weekly supply totals data Wednesday.