Market correction pushes up oil prices after Trump tariffs sparked rout
Brent crude regained some of its losses today after taking a battering on international markets since last Wednesday.
The price of the international standard had risen nearly one per cent by the mid afternoon London time, trading at $60.32.
Read more: Iran seizes another tanker over fuel smuggling, state media reports
It comes as the price yesterday slipped below the $60 mark for the first time since mid-July.
Although the price of a barrel of Brent briefly touched its lowest point since mid-January at $59 this morning, it later bounced back.
Prices have dropped nearly eight per cent since last Wednesday when US President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs on Chinese goods.
The salvo ended an uneasy months-long truce in the trade war between the countries.
Stephen Innes, a managing partner at VM Markets, said that the market was correcting itself from “oversold doom and gloom positions.”
It comes as yesterday the US accused China of manipulating its currency after the yuan dropped to its lowest point in a decade.
“There is large uncertainty surrounding demand … There will be a lot of attention being paid to the commentary surrounding the trade war and its developments. There’s talk of this potentially causing recession in parts of Asia and Europe,” said analyst Harrison Fleming, at Frame Funds in Sydney.
Read more: Britain will join US to protect ships from Iranian attack
Meanwhile, tensions are high in the Middle East where Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz to international oil tankers.
Around a fifth of global oil passes through the Strait. Yesterday defence secretary Ben Wallace revealed that the UK will be joining US efforts to protect ships from Iranian attack.