Crude oil prices slide to $104/bbl as investors pin hopes for a US-Iran peace deal; gold down 0.4%

Crude oil prices cooled to around $104 per barrel (bbl) during the early market hours on Friday, May 22, as investors focused on any positive cues from the ongoing negotiations of a potential peace deal between the United States and Iran.

Latest reports suggest that there are “some good signs” that America could finally reach a deal with Iran as the West Asian mediators push for a peace deal proposal amid a fragile ceasefire agreement.

Data showed that Brent crude oil prices dropped to near $102 per bbl during the evening market session on Thursday, after opening around $105 per bbl. However, the prices have risen from those levels in Friday’s market, India time.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices surged to $102.61 per bbl during the intraday session on May 21, before cooling again to near $97 per bbl levels. The oil prices remained volatile based on the dynamic development of the West Asia conflict.

Oil prices today

At 7:37 am (IST), Brent crude oil futures were trading 0.37% lower at $104.55 per bbl on Friday, May 22, compared to $104.93 per bbl at the previous commodity market close, according to the Investing.com data.

Brent has lost 4.28% in the past one week, but the rates have remained trading over 8% higher in the last one month period, as per the exchange data.

The US-based WTI crude oil prices were trading 0.17% lower at $97.83 per bbl as of 7:38 am (IST), compared to $98 per bbl at the previous market close, according to Investing.com data.

Good sign for US-Iran peace deal?

On Wednesday, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that there were “some good signs” that the United States is likely to reach a potential peace deal with Iran as the negotiators in the region continue their dialogue with the Gulf nation.

“I think we’ve made some progress, but obviously, we are dealing with a system that is a little fractured, the Iranian system,” said Marco Rubio, as per an FT report. “There’s some good signs, but I don’t want to be overly optimistic as well.”

This comes at a time when the United States and Iran have not been able to come to a common ground on the Gulf nation’s nuclear capabilities, as uncertainty looms over investors on any further escalations if this negotiation fails again.

Although US President Donald Trump has earlier hinted that America is in the “final stages” with Iran on the conflict, the US leader has prepared his forces for a “large-scale” attack on the West Asian country.

Earlier this week, Trump postponed his plans to carry out a military strike on Iran at the request of the other Gulf nations, but reports suggest that Trump is willing to wait only till the end of this week.

If a peace deal is not proposed or the negotiations fail, then Trump said he will launch combat operations in Iran. Meanwhile, Iran has threatened retaliation if the United States calls off the ceasefire deal.

Gold prices today

As of 10:10 pm (ET), the New York Mercantile Exchange-based COMEX gold prices were trading 0.4% lower at $4,525 per ounce in the United States on Thursday, compared to $4,542.50 per ounce at the previous market close.

The exchange data showed that the gold prices were trading 3.4% lower in the last five trading sessions, 4.16% down in the past one month, and the precious metal has lost over 10% value in the last three months.

Gold prices were trading lower due to an elevated rate of the US dollar in the market amid investors holding on to their safe-haven bets to gauge the sentiment of the market and analyse the developments in West Asia.

Data collected from the Bloomberg US dollar spot index showed that the greenback was trading 0.01% higher at 99.263 as of 10:11 pm (ET) on Thursday, May 21, compared to the previous currency market close.

Investors remained cautious as the developments between the United States and Iran continue to steer the market sentiment.