On Wednesday, December 19, oil prices on Asian trading are beginning to rise gradually after the collapse the previous day. Futures on US stock indexes also show a positive trend against the background of news about the January talks between the leaders of the United States and China.
It is expected that in the first month of the new year, there will be a meeting between American President Donald Trump and the Chinese leader Xi Jinping. According to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, they intend to agree on extending the truce in a trade war. Recall that in the current month the deadline for the established fees. At present, both sides are developing a program for the official meeting scheduled for January 2019. Following the meeting, Washington and Beijing expect to document the agreement by March 1 of next year.
WTI light oil futures for January delivery rose 29 cents to $ 46.53 a barrel. At the moment, these contracts are ending, and the closest will be the February contracts, which increased by 20 cents, to $ 46.80 per barrel.
February futures for Brent benchmark crude rose 32 cents to $ 56.58 a barrel. A day earlier, the quotes of this brand fell to $ 55.89, the lowest since October 2017.
According to the data on US foreign trade in October 2018, published last week, the country's trade deficit increased to $ 55.5 billion. Experts consider this figure the highest in the last ten years. At the same time, trade with China reached record levels.
Reducing the trade deficit with China remains a priority for the American president. The White House administration intends to provide American companies with access to the Chinese market. According to S. Mnuchin, if it is possible to agree on this, the trade deficit between the countries will come into balance.
According to analysts, the uncertainty regarding the truce reached between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the G20 summit led to instability in financial markets. At the same time, concerns about the slowdown in the Chinese economy have grown substantially.
Since the beginning of this month, the stock index S & P 500 fell by 7%. Experts consider this figure the worst for December, since 1931. Futures on a number of indices, such as the S & P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq, began to move upward from Tuesday's lows.