WTI Trades at $59,  USD Hits 2-Wk High on U.S.-China Summit

SECAUCUS, NJ (DTN) — Oil futures fell on Thursday (10/30), driven by the dollar’s rise to a two-week high following a U.S.-China summit that eased tensions on tariffs between both countries without providing assurances about additional Chinese demand for U.S. commodities.

A weekend meeting of OPEC set a bearish tone to the market due to concerns that the group could agree to a higher output. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks on Wednesday (10/29) that the central bank might not do a third consecutive interest rate cut in December also weighed on sentiment.

The NYMEX WTI contract for December delivery fell $0.58 at $59.92 bbl. ICE Brent for December delivery slid $0.64 to $64.28 bbl.

Front-month ULSD futures eased by $0.097 to $2.3946 gallon while November RBOB gasoline futures slipped $0.0185 to $1.9552 gallon.

The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.268 points to 99.29 against a basket of foreign currencies, after hitting a mid-October high of 99.3.

U.S President Donald Trump announced after talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea that overall U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods would drop by 10%, due to progress on soybean imports, rare earths and fentanyl issues.

Meanwhile, Jinping said that he is ready to continue working with President  Trump to build a solid foundation for bilateral ties, China’s news agency Xinhua reported. China, the second largest destination for U.S. petroleum exports in 2023, has cut back on U.S. crude purchases this year amid higher tariffs, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed.

On earnings, Shell posted third quarter adjusted earnings of $5.3 billion up 24% year-on-year, driven by strong performance in deepwater assets in the Gulf of America and Brazil.