Oil prices rose during trading on Tuesday after Israel bombed the city of Rafah in Gaza, while negotiations for a ceasefire with Hamas continued without reaching an agreement. By 04:00 GMT, Brent crude futures had increased by 23 cents, or 0.28%, to $83.56 a barrel. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose by 24 cents, or 0.31%, to $78.72 a barrel.
Yip Jong Rong, a market strategist at IG, stated, "Oil prices opened higher this morning amid some hurdles in the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, prompting market participants to assess the potential impact of geopolitical tensions that might persist for an extended period." He added that market participants are looking forward to new data on U.S. crude inventories.
Oil prices settled higher at the close on Monday, recovering somewhat from last week's losses. Both contracts experienced their largest weekly losses in three months, as the market focused on weak U.S. jobs data and the potential timing of a U.S. interest rate cut.
