While oil initially surged beyond US$81 ($103.76) a barrel, a healthy oil surplus kept prices under US$80/ barrel at the start of the week. Following the ceasefire, Brent slumped further below US$70/barrel, a “historically moderate range”, according to Schroders.
US President Donald Trump swore when discussing Iran and Israel with reporters on June 24, accusing the Middle Eastern countries of violating a ceasefire he had announced earlier that day. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f*** they’re doing.”
The markets have proven to be less exasperated than the world leader, who had brought the US into the fray by striking three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22.
