Oil prices suffered losses of half a percentage point in early Asian trading today, Wednesday, amid the continuation of the fundamental factors driving the decline, after gains they achieved in the previous session in light of the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
Brent crude futures for March, which expire today, fell 37 cents, equivalent to 0.45 percent, to $82.50 per barrel by 03:26 GMT.
The most actively traded April contract fell 24 cents to $82.26 a barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 35 cents to $77.47.
US President Joe Biden said he had decided how to respond to the attack without providing further details, but added that he wanted to avoid a broader war in the Middle East.
On Tuesday, an armed group in Iraq announced the suspension of all its military operations against American forces in the region.
The US Department of Defense indicated that the group may be behind the attacks, although a final assessment has not been reached.
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Hamas said yesterday that it had received a ceasefire proposal and was studying it. This appears to be the most serious peace initiative since the war’s first and only brief ceasefire, which collapsed in November.
Markets are also awaiting the release of China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index data on Wednesday, which is likely to show a contraction for the fourth month in a row.
