Asian shares were mixed and the price of Brent crude steadied near $104 a barrel Monday as US President Donald Trump’s plan to purchase diesel from Russia drew criticism from some lawmakers.
US stock futures edged higher after Wall Street finished its record-setting week with gains. This week will bring updates on inflation and retail sales in the US The biggest US banks will report earnings from the most recent quarter.
In Asian trading, South Korea’s Kospi lost 3.7% to 6,384.24. Markets in Tokyo were closed for a holiday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.2% to 24,268.06 and the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.4% to 3,797.31.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 surged 0.8% to 8,783,20.
Taiwan’s Taiex ended nearly unchanged and the Sensex in India dropped 0.8%.
On Friday, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8%. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.6%.
Oil prices have continued to yo-yo because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.
Trump shocked lawmakers when he announced on social media Friday that he struck a deal to buy Russian diesel with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call, aiming to tamp down a spike in fuel prices ahead of the Nov. 3 US midterm elections.
The president said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the American and global market, followed by an additional 500,000 tonnes in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver an additional 3 million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote.
The plan runs counter to US efforts to cut the flow of money Russia gets from oil and gas sales that can be used to pay for its war against Ukraine. Trump’s announcement came just a few weeks after Congress passed legislation that directed Trump to impose substantial tariffs on the top importers of Russian oil or natural gas, with an exception for countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to reduce those imports.
A bipartisan group of six senators called Sunday for the administration to “immediately reverse course” on the plan.
The price of Brent crude, the international standard, edged 0.1% higher to $104.76 per barrel early Monday. U.S. benchmark crude oil fell 0.4% to $91.50 per barrel.
