FX.co ★ Crude Oil Retreats Amid Diplomatic Resolution Hopes

WTI crude oil futures pulled back from intraday highs to trade below $112 per barrel as traders assessed the prospects of a diplomatic breakthrough ahead of President Trump’s 8 p.m. deadline. Prices had initially spiked after US strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island export terminal, but the rally faded once Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif proposed a two-week extension of the deadline and a temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. This Pakistan-led mediation effort injected some late-stage optimism into the market, prompting investors to scale back some of their defensive energy positions. At the same time, market participants are weighing the risk of demand destruction, after the International Energy Agency warned that the current crisis could prove more severe than the oil shocks of the 1970s.