Crude oil prices trade above $98/bbl amid uncertainty over US-Iran peace deal talks; COMEX gold trades flat

Crude oil prices were trading above the $98 per barrel region during the early market hours on Friday, April 17, as global investors focused on the uncertainty over US-Iran peace deal talks potentially happening in the upcoming weekend.

US President Donald Trump told the media at White House that the United States and Iran “probably” will meet over the weekend for a second round of negotiations after last week’s failed talks. However, no official date has been scheduled for the potential talks.

Brent crude oil prices surged to $99.80 per bbl towards the end of Thursday’s commodity market session after opening around $94.6 per bbl in the morning hours. In the early hours on April 17, the oil prices eased by a margin of around $1 per bbl after Trump’s optimistic outlook for the West Asia conflict amid the uncertainty in the market.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices surged to $95.39 per bbl during Thursday’s trading session after opening around the $91.3 per bbl region, according to the exchange data.

Crude oil prices today

As of 7:34 am (IST), Brent crude oil prices were trading 1% lower at $98.39 per bbl on Friday, compared to $99.39 at the previous commodity market close, according to the data collected from Investing.com.

The data also showed that the US-based WTI crude oil prices were trading 1.35% lower at $93.40 per bbl as of 7:35 am (IST), compared to $94.49 per bbl at the previous market close. The oil prices cooled in the early market hours on Friday.

What’s fuelling oil prices today?

Oil prices remained elevated during the market session on Friday, after investors witnessed lack of clear indication about the Strait of Hormuz blockade amid the overall uncertainty related to the peace deal talks potentially happening over the weekend.

According to a recent BBC report, Lebanon and Israel have announced a ten day ceasefire, yet the oil prices remained elevated and very fragile subject to the changing dynamics in West Asia.

President Trump in his recent address at Nevada said that he expects the conflict to end “pretty soon” as the “war in Iran is going along swimmingly.” However, the US leader did not expand on the commentary but appreciated the US military for their contributions in West Asia.

Later in a Truth Social post, Trump said he hopes Iran-backed Hezbollah ‘acts nicely’ as the focus should now be on finally having peace between the countries.

“I hope Hezbollah acts nicely and well during this important period of time. It will be a GREAT moment for them if they do. No more killing. Must finally have PEACE!,” said Trump in his recent post.

Gold prices today

The New York Mercantile Exchange-based COMEX gold prices were trading flat at $4,810.50 per ounce as of 10:14 pm (ET) on Thursday, April 16, compared to $4,808.30 per ounce at the previous market close, as per the exchange data.

The gold prices were trading flat on the backdrop of an elevated US dollar rate in the market as the demand for precious metal gold was in question among the commodity traders. In the early market hours India time, the gold prices were trading in the red zone, with a higher dollar rate, as traders buy less gold when the demand for the greenback rises.

Data collected from the Bloomberg US dollar spot index (DYX) showed that the greenback was trading 0.06% higher at 98.274 as of 10:15 pm (ET) on April 16, compared to the previous currency market close levels.