Oil plunged on Iran deal news- Russia refutes, gold stalls

Oil sinks on report of progress in nuclear talks

The rally in oil prices ran out of gas as energy traders had to refrain from crude demand optimism until the bulk of restrictive measures in Asia is known.  The more infectious Indian variant has been a strong cap for oil prices this month.

Crude prices plunged after the BBC reported an important announcement with the Iran nuclear deal will be made tomorrow.  If Iran quickly gets to nuclear compliance, the energy markets could see more supply hit by the middle of summer.

Brent pared losses after Russian Envoy Ulyanov noted that unresolved issues remain with the Iran Nuclear Deal and that it is premature to have a breakthrough.

The crude demand recovery story during the second half of the year still supports much higher oil prices by the end of the year, with this Iran news possibly shaving a couple of dollars off most analysts’ end-of-year targets.

Gold

Gold prices are steadying as Treasury yields may have found a short-term bottom.  Gold’s three-day rally was poised to hit some resistance on bullish exhaustion following the break of both the 200-day SMA and the downward sloping trendline from the record high price set last summer.

Gold’s outlook still screams bullishness given the monetary policy stances across the world’s two largest economies.  Gold has been a terrible inflation hedge over the past 12 months, but that could change given the weaker dollar dynamics that are unfolding alongside a commodity boom.   Gold’s eyes are set for the USD1,900 level, with bullion investors likely poised to defend any weakness that approaches the USD1850 level.

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Ed Moya

Ed Moya

Contributing Author at OANDA
With more than 20 years’ trading experience, Ed Moya was a Senior Market Analyst with OANDA for the Americas from November 2018 to November 2023.

His particular expertise lies across a wide range of asset classes including FX, commodities, fixed income, stocks and cryptocurrencies.

Over the course of his career, Ed has worked with some of the leading forex brokerages, research teams and news departments on Wall Street including Global Forex Trading, FX Solutions and Trading Advantage. Prior to OANDA he worked with TradeTheNews.com, where he provided market analysis on economic data and corporate news.

Based in New York, Ed is a regular guest on several major financial television networks including CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Yahoo! Finance Live, Fox Business, cheddar news, and CoinDesk TV. His views are trusted by the world’s most respected global newswires including Reuters, Bloomberg and the Associated Press, and he is regularly quoted in leading publications such as MSN, MarketWatch, Forbes, Seeking Alpha, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Ed holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University.