Crude oil prices trade above $98/bbl despite US-Iran ceasefire extension; COMEX gold up 1%

Crude oil prices in the global market were trading above $98 per barrel (bbl) during the early market hours on Wednesday, April 22, as investors remained cautious over the US blockade in Strait of Hormuz and President Donald Trump’s US-Iran ceasefire extension move.

In a Truth Social post on early April 22, India time, Trump announced that the United States is holding their attacks on Iran till the country and its representatives come up with a unified potential peace deal proposal.

Brent crude oil prices surged past the $100 per bbl psychological mark during Tuesday’s market session driven by the uncertainty of the ceasefire deadline extension, as the commodity touched an intraday high of $101.15 per bbl on April 21, after opening around $94 per bbl region.

The western benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices also witnessed high volatility, surging to an intraday high of $92.20 per bbl on Tuesday’s market, after opening around $86 per bbl region.

Oil prices today

As of 7:19 am (IST), the Brent crude oil futures were trading 0.86% lower at $98.34 per bbl on Wednesday, compared to $99.22 per bbl at the previous commodity market close on Tuesday, according to Investing.com data.

The exchange data also showed that the US-based WTI crude oil futures were also trading 0.14% lower at $89.53 per bbl as of 7:20 am (IST) on April 22, compared to $89.67 per bbl at the previous market close.

Factors driving oil prices today

Crude oil prices remained elevated but under the $100 per bbl psychological range after President Donald Trump’s official statement cleared some bit of uncertainty in the market on the extension of the ceasefire deadline between the United States and Iran.

Although in his statement, Trump has not mentioned the duration of the ceasefire extension after the deal expired on Wednesday. The US leader further said that he has directed his defence forces to continue the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, which in turn kept the investors on edge.

“I have therefore directed our military to continue the blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other,” said Trump in his official statement.

In a separate post on the platform, Trump claimed that Iran does not want the key trading passage to be closed as they are allegedly earning $500 million dollars per day from the closure.

In his opinion, Trump said that there ‘can never be a peace deal with Iran’ if the US opens up the Strait of Hormuz by removing the US blockade. Hence, the markets are still concerned about a supply disruption due to the dynamic geopolitical situation in West Asia amid an absence of a peace deal.

Gold prices today

The New York Mercantile Exchange-based COMEX gold prices were trading 1.07% higher at $4,770 as of 9:50 pm (EDT) on Tuesday, April 21, compared to $4,719.60 at the previous market close, according to the official data.

The gold prices were trading higher during Wednesday’s market, India time, as the US dollar rates remained under pressure due to easing demand for the benchmark currency. Investors tend to move out of safer bets like the greenback into other emerging market assets and precious metals in case of a lower dollar rate.

In the case of gold, traders will be able to purchase more gold at a same dollar rate if the price of the US dollar falls in the currency market, establishing an inverse relationship with the commodity price.

Bloomberg US dollar spot index (DYX) data showed that the greenback was trading 0.04% lower at 98.356 as of 9:51 on Tuesday’s market, compared to the previous market close.