Trump Announces Plan to Buy Russian Diesel: Asian Stocks Mixed, Brent Around $104
U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to buy diesel fuel from Russia has drawn criticism from some lawmakers. Asian exchanges are showing mixed performance, while Brent crude stabilized at around $104 per barrel on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to buy diesel fuel from Russia has drawn criticism from some lawmakers. Asian exchanges are showing mixed performance, while Brent crude stabilized at around $104 per barrel on Monday.
U.S. stock futures rose after Wall Street ended a record-setting week on Friday. That day, the S&P 500 gained 0.6%, the Dow Jones 0.8%, and the Nasdaq 0.6%.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.7% to 6,384.24. India’s Sensex dropped 0.8% and the Shanghai Composite declined 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.2% to 24,268.06, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.8% to 8,783.20. Taiwan’s Taiex was almost unchanged, while Tokyo markets were closed for a holiday.
On Friday, after a phone call with Vladimir Putin, Trump announced that he had reached an agreement on purchasing Russian diesel fuel. The goal is to prevent a sharp rise in fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections on November 3. According to Trump, Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons, 500,000 tons in November, then 1 million tons, and afterward, “in a short period of time,” an additional 3 million tons of diesel.
The plan runs counter to U.S. efforts to reduce the oil and gas revenues that could finance Russia’s war costs. The announcement came several weeks after Congress passed legislation providing for tariffs on major importers of Russian oil or gas. On Sunday, a bipartisan group of six senators urged the administration to “immediately change course.”
Brent crude rose 0.1% to $104.76, while the U.S. benchmark crude fell 0.4% to $91.50. Oil prices continue to decline amid uncertainty over how the war with Iran will affect the normalization of the energy sector.
Stocks are supported by strong corporate earnings expectations. According to the University of Michigan’s preliminary report, U.S. consumers have raised their inflation expectations for next year to 4.7% (4.6% a month ago, 3.4% in February). This week, U.S. inflation and retail sales data will be released, and on Tuesday Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo will report their latest quarterly earnings.
In the currency market, the dollar rose to 158.36 yen from 158.23 yen, and the euro climbed to $1.1206 from $1.1191