By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil futures ended largely unchanged on Monday as a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel continued to elude negotiators.
Both benchmarks closed 37 cents, or 0.5%, higher, with futures at $83.33 per barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) at $78.48 per barrel.
Last week, both contracts posted their biggest weekly losses in three months, with Brent down more than 7% and WTI down 6.8%, as investors factored in weak US employment data and the possible timing of a interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
In trading on Monday, global benchmark Brent climbed and then retreated on ceasefire prospects, hitting a high of $83.83 and a low of $82.77.
“(A potential deal) took some air out of the oil market,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. “Any agreement on a ceasefire would reduce tension in the Middle East.
An Israeli official said the ceasefire proposal from Egypt, which Hamas accepted, had some far-reaching aspects that were unacceptable.
Hamas has demanded an end to the war in exchange for the release of hostages, and Israel appeared poised to launch a long-threatened attack in the southern Gaza Strip.
“Markets are a little disappointed about the geopolitical risks of the war,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital. “I think you’re going to have to see more kinetic activity to move the markets.”
Also supporting oil was Saudi Arabia’s move to raise official retail prices for crude sold to Asia, northwest Europe and the Mediterranean in June, signaling expectations of strong demand this summer.
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Lipow said he expects the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to announce plans to continue production cuts in the third quarter at meetings in June.
In China, the world’s largest crude oil importer, services activity remained in expansionary territory for the 16th straight month as new order growth accelerated and business confidence rose strongly, raising hopes for a sustainable economic recovery.
