Oil price on track for longest losing streak in more than 12 months

{"text":[[{"start":10.44,"text":"Oil prices are set for their longest streak of declines since before the Middle East conflict began as the US and Iran held their first talks since June and as China’s president prepares for a visit to Washington."}],[{"start":22.72,"text":"Brent crude fell 0.8 per cent in afternoon trading in Asia on Wednesday to $98.43 a barrel, putting the oil benchmark on track for a sixth consecutive day of declines. That would be the longest streak of daily declines for Brent since August last year."}],[{"start":40.44,"text":"Meanwhile, US oil prices fell below $90 a barrel after shedding more than 10 per cent over the past five days."}],[{"start":48.24,"text":"Prices dipped on Tuesday when Saudi Arabia signalled that it was preparing to restart its key East-West pipeline and resume crude exports from its Red Sea coast."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":57.84,"text":"Easing oil prices have also helped propel US stock markets to fresh highs this week, with optimism about AI developments sending the Nasdaq 100 to a new record on Tuesday."}],[{"start":68.64,"text":"The declines come as US President Donald Trump prepares to host Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington for a three-day summit. While analysts expect the meeting to uphold an uneasy truce between the two superpowers, expectations remain low for any major breakthroughs."}],[{"start":84.12,"text":"“The outcome of this summit will directly set the tone for US-China economic and trade relations, tech-sector competition and the geopolitical landscape in the coming period,” said Kenny Ng, a strategist at brokerage Everbright Securities International."}],[{"start":99.84,"text":"“Investors should avoid blindly chasing highs and maintain tactical flexibility, waiting for clearer policy signals from the high-level US-China meeting before making further heavy commitments.”"}],[{"start":110.68,"text":"Grace Tam, deputy chief investment officer for Asia at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, said the decline in oil prices had only slightly reduced the expectations of a Fed rate rise in October to a 53 per cent probability."}],[{"start":124.08,"text":"“I think the market doesn’t believe oil prices could fall for a sustained period of time without a resolution for the US-Iran war — and tensions could easily re-escalate again,” she said."}],[{"start":135.68,"text":"Analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note published on Tuesday that China was unlikely to substantially increase its oil imports in the last three months of the year."}],[{"start":143.68,"text":"Reduced Chinese buying of oil has eased pressure on global markets as Beijing taps its substantial strategic reserves."}],[{"start":144.18,"text":"“We continue to view a possible escalation of strikes on Mideast crude production and export infrastructure — not higher China imports — as the main upside risk to our crude price forecast,” the analysts wrote."}],[{"start":163.7,"text":"Global bond markets were stable on Wednesday, with yields on 10-year US Treasuries edging up 0.01 percentage points to 4.96 per cent."}],[{"start":173.88,"text":"Higher energy prices have fuelled inflation worries and pushed up global bond yields."}],[{"start":179.2,"text":"This week Chicago Federal Reserve president Austan Goolsbee warned that the US central bank would need to adopt an “aggressive” and “frontloaded” policy response if the current burst of inflation turned out to be fuelled by more enduring factors than the oil price shock."}],[{"start":199.4,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790156465_7209.mp3"}