Crude oil futures traded lower on Tuesday morning as reports indicated that Israel has offered a peace deal to Hamas.
At 9.53 am on Tuesday, July Brent oil futures were at $87.09, down by 0.13 per cent, and June crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $82.50, down by 0.16 per cent.
May crude oil futures were trading at ₹6895 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Tuesday morning against the previous close of ₹6899, down by 0.06 per cent, and June futures were trading at ₹6868 against the previous close of ₹6869, down by 0.01 per cent.
According to market reports, delegates from Israel and Hamas have met in Egypt to discuss Israel’s 40-day ceasefire offer to Hamas. Reports said that the Hamas delegation, which left Egypt, will return back with a written response to Israel’s proposal.
Any progress in the ceasefire deal will de-escalate the tensions in West Asia region. Crude oil prices went up in the recent weeks due to the tensions between Israel and Hamas in West Asia region.
Meanwhile, airstrikes by Israel killed many Palestinians on Monday. Houthis continued their attacks on maritime traffic south of the Suez Canal. Any further escalation in attacks on maritime traffic could lead to crude oil supply disruptions.
In China, the Caixin General Manufacturing PMI rose to 51.4 in April as against 51.1 in March. Market was expecting it to be at 51. Improvement in demand conditions helped register the growth in April. April’s growth was the sixth straight month of growth in factory activity.
China is a major consumer of crude oil in the global market, and improvement in economic activities in that country will help boost the demand for commodities such as crude oil.
May natural gas futures were trading at ₹173.10 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Tuesday morning against the previous close of ₹168.70, up by 2.61 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), May jeera contracts were trading at ₹22665 in the initial hour of trading on Tuesday morning against the previous close of ₹22535, up by 0.58 per cent.
May dhaniya futures were trading at ₹7440 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Tuesday morning against the previous close of ₹7458, down by 0.24 per cent.