Oil Futures Rose Last Week; Trump’s Weekend Iran Comments Keep Supply Risks in Focus

Oil futures ended last week higher, while President Donald Trump’s weekend comments about Iran kept supply risks in focus ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.

West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery rose 3.82% Friday to $103.27 a barrel. Brent for December gained 3.14% to $116.72. For the week ended Friday, WTI climbed 4.29% and Brent rose 6.24%.

Trump said over the weekend that the United States might strike Iran again or reach an agreement. He later said there would be no U.S. strike on Sunday, Eastern time. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides were still communicating through intermediaries, while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had no clear restart plan.

During early Monday trading in Asia, which was Sunday evening ET in the United States, WTI fell about 1%. That pullback alone did not establish that supply pressure had eased. If high oil prices persist, they could raise transportation costs and add to inflation pressure.

U.S. stocks fell Friday: the S&P 500 lost 0.52% to 7,623.68, the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.21% to 25,955.34 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.23% to 52,215.16. For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.47% and the Nasdaq declined 0.71%, marking a second consecutive weekly loss for both. The Dow gained 0.41% for the week.

Bitcoin (BTC) was $79,921 at 9:17 p.m. ET Sunday, Oct. 25 (01:17 UTC Monday), while Ether (ETH) traded around $2,330 in early Monday trading in Asia.

The Fed will announce its interest-rate decision Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 2 p.m. ET (18:00 UTC), followed by a news conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. Microsoft and Alphabet are scheduled to report earnings after the U.S. market closes Wednesday.

U.S. third-quarter gross domestic product and September personal income and spending data are due Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. The core personal consumption expenditures price index in that report will provide another inflation measure for investors to assess alongside energy prices.