Oil advanced above $64 a barrel after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech raised hopes that U.S.-China trade tensions may ease, lifting risk assets around the world.
Futures in New York erased earlier losses to rise as much as 1.5 percent as Xi vowed to open sectors from banking to auto manufacturing, increase imports and lower foreign-ownership limits.
That came after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed optimism on reaching a deal with China. Markets from global equities to metals gained on expectations that a trade war between the world’s two largest economies can be averted.
“There seems to be a slightly more conciliatory tone coming from both sides at the moment,” Neil Atkinson, head of the oil markets and industry division at the International Energy Agency, said in a Bloomberg television interview.
Oil has struggled after touching a high of more than $66 a barrel in March as investors worry that tit-for-tat tariff increases between the U.S. and China could hurt wider economic growth and curb energy demand. Record U.S. crude production is also threatening efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to curtail output and drain a global glut.
West Texas Intermediate for May delivery rose as much as 96 cents to $64.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $64.21 as of 10:47 a.m. London time. The contract climbed 2.2 percent to $63.42 on Monday. Total volume traded Tuesday was about 37 percent above the 100-day average Bloomberg cited.
Brent for June settlement was up 85 cents at $69.50 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, after advancing 2.3 percent on Monday. The global benchmark crude traded at a $5.33 premium to June WTI, the widest since March 29.
Yuan-denominated futures for September delivery rose 2.4 percent to 410.1 yuan a barrel on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange.
