Crude oil prices trade at $109/bbl as Trump holds off military strikes on Iran; gold up 0.18%

Crude oil prices were trading around $109 per barrel (bbl) during the early market hours on Tuesday, May 19, after US President Donald Trump called off the planned military strike on Iran, signalling that the United States is positioned to execute a full assault, if needed.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said that his move to call off today’s attack comes after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar urged Western leaders to hold off their planned strike, citing that serious negotiations are taking place for potential peace.

During the early hours on Tuesday, India time, the crude oil prices cooled off from their Monday’s intraday high of $112.72 per bbl during the evening market session. However, the oil prices remained elevated due to the risk of future attacks and further escalations, which can extend the conflict in the absence of a peace deal.

The US-based West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil hit its intraday high of ₹105.19 per bbl on Monday, after opening around $101 per bbl at the previous market close, as per the exchange data.

Oil prices today

At 7:26 am (IST), the Brent crude oil prices were trading 0.16% higher at $109.53 per bbl on Tuesday, compared to $109.31 per bbl at the previous market close, according to Investing.com data.

The WTI crude oil prices were down 1.8% to $102.48 per bbl on May 19, compared to $104.38 per bbl at the previous market close, as per the exchange data.

Is US prepared to attack Iran?

US President Donald Trump, in a social media post on early Tuesday, said that although America had called off the planned military attack on Iran, the defence forces are prepared and have their instructions to carry out a “full, large-scale assault on Iran,” if they do not come up with a peace deal.

“I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel Caine, and the United States Military, that we will not be doing the scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow, but have further instructed them to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable deal is not reached,” said Trump.

Regional media reports from CNN showed that thousands of Iranians have been routinely taking to the streets of Tehran for rallies allegedly to mobilise support against the United States amid Trump’s recent threat of attacks.

The report also mentioned that the rallies or ‘night gatherings’ have been taking place across the country every evening since the beginning of the US-Iran conflict.

Gold prices today

The New York Mercantile Exchange-based COMEX gold prices were trading 0.18% higher at $4,566.70 per ounce as of 9:57 pm (ET) in the United States on Monday, May 18, compared to $4,558 per ounce at the previous market close, according to the official data.

The gold prices were trading higher due to the renewed demand for the precious metals in the market on a lower US dollar rate. Traders tend of buy more of the precious metal gold when the US dollar rate falls in the market in order to be able to purchase more of the commodity at a lower price.

Bloomberg US dollar spot index (DYX) data showed that the greenback was trading 0.13% lower at 99.066 as of 9:59 pm (ET) on Monday, compared to the previous currency market close.

Although gold is trading higher on an intraday basis, the precious metal has lost 3.5% in the last five days, 6.5% in the past month, and nearly 9% in the last three months, as per the exchange data.