Yesterday After a sharp rise the day before, oil prices fell in trading on July 24: futures on the benchmark Brent crude fell by 4.8%, dropping below $96 per barrel. Exchange-traded contracts for North American WTI lost about 4.3% and traded at $88 per barrel. The decline intensified after Reuters reported that China had spearheaded an attempt by Pakistan to resume negotiations between the United States and Iran.
According to three sources for the agency, Beijing proposed that Islamabad help kick off a new diplomatic process, after which Pakistan began discussing such a possibility with Iran.
«China is dissatisfied because Iran’s attacks on other Persian Gulf countries and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz affect its interests,» Reuters quoted an unnamed representative of the Pakistani government as saying. And disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea due to the Houthis’ attacks could put at risk another key trade route on which Beijing depends, the agency explains.
In a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry, which Reuters cites, it says that it «supports the mediation efforts of Pakistan and other parties» and will continue to «play an active role in the earliest possible restoration of peace and calm in the region».
After the Reuters report was published, US stock indexes rose: the S&P 500 was up 0.7% at the time this text was written, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite, which had started the trading session in the red, moved into positive territory by 0.2%.ㅤ