2024-04-11T04:54:22+00:00
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/ Oil prices continued their gains on Thursday, after rising by $1 per barrel in the previous session, as investors braced for a worsening Middle East crisis that may include Iran, the third-largest oil producer in OPEC.
By 03:25 GMT, Brent crude futures rose 30 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $90.78 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 25 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $86.46 per barrel.
Both contracts rose more than 1% in the previous session after three sons of a Hamas leader were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, raising fears that ceasefire talks between the two sides would falter.
Earlier this week, Israel and Hamas began a new round of negotiations regarding their more than six-month-old war in Gaza, but those discussions did not result in any agreement.
“Prices remain sensitive to geopolitical developments in the Middle East, with market participants pricing in the risk of supply disruptions if tensions persist for a longer period,” said Yip Jun Rong, market strategist.
“This helps offset some risk-off sentiment overnight, as markets recalibrate their interest rate expectations to cut interest rates in June and keep interest rates higher for longer into September,” Yip added, referring to US interest rates.