Brent Crude Dips Below $100/Barrel as Trump's Iran Talks Progress
Brent crude oil prices fell below US$100 a barrel as US President Donald Trump indicated that talks with Iran on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly were progressing well.
Trump told world leaders at the UN gathering that if a deal wasn't reached, Iran faced annihilation. The drop in oil prices came amid reports that Saudi Arabia was testing the damaged East-West pipeline bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, stoking optimism that fuel could start moving next week.
The kiwi dollar touched fresh multi-year lows after Reserve Bank of New Zealand governor Anna Breman said higher oil prices would keep inflation running at a hotter pace than predicted in the central bank's September forecast. The kiwi traded at 57.24 US cents at 7am from 57.36 cents yesterday.
US and European stock markets were mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallying on cheaper energy leading to gains for Nvidia, Intel, and Advanced Micro Devices, while financial firms like JPMorgan Chase & Co and American Express weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.