By Heesu Lee and Grant Smith
Oil is heading for its second monthly loss this year as a gloomy economic outlook eclipses concerns that crude flows may be disrupted from the Middle East. Hedge funds added to bets on a slump in New York futures at the fastest pace in almost a year after disappointing manufacturing data out of America and Germany last week bolstered fears of declining demand.
“The fragile economic growth caused by the confrontational and protectionist U.S. trade policy is having a profound impact on oil demand and oil-demand growth,” said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London.
West Texas Intermediate for September gained 3 cents to $56.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 10:39 a.m. London time. The contract rose 18 cents on Friday, rising for the fifth time in six days.
Brent for September settlement fell 14 cents to $63.32 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange. It capped a 1.6% weekly gain on Friday. The global benchmark crude traded at a $7.08 premium to WTI.
See also: Oman In Talks With ‘All Parties’ to Restore Hormuz Stability
The U.K. frigate, HMS Duncan, will operate alongside the Royal Navy’s HMS Montrose Type 23 to shepherd British-flagged ships through the strait, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. The air defense destroyer will operate until late August, it said.
Two days of talks are scheduled to restart Tuesday after a truce reached by Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, last month. Deep tensions remain, though, and recent days have brought mixed signals from both sides, with neither showing an urge to compromise.
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