Brent Crude Tumbles Amid Diplomatic Resolution Hopes
Brent crude futures tumbled toward $106 per barrel on Tuesday, as traders weighed a potential diplomatic breakthrough ahead of President Trump's 8 p.m. deadline. While prices initially surged following US strikes on Iran's Kharg Island terminal, the rally lost momentum after Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif proposed a two-week extension of the deadline and a temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. This Pakistani-brokered mediation effort offered a glimmer of hope for an eleventh-hour deal which prompted some investors to pare back their defensive energy positions. Market participants are also considering the potential for demand destruction as the International Energy Agency warned that the current crisis could be more severe than the shocks of the 1970s.