Oil falls 7.5% on peace hopes, gold up

Oil benchmarks slid on Monday as diplomatic activity between Iran and Qatar raised hopes of a path to end the US-Israel conflict and steady regional crude flows, The Express Tribune reported. Brent was down 7.47% at $104.96 a barrel by 1724 GMT, while US WTI traded 7.2% lower at $96.62. Iran’s president said the supreme leader had authorised the government to take certain steps on peace negotiations, and an official said a draft proposal was circulating.

Gold moved higher after its recent steep decline. In Pakistan, the per-tola rate rose Rs2,400 to Rs412,136, while 10-gram gold gained Rs2,058 to Rs353,340; international spot gold advanced 2.1% to $3,957.19 an ounce. The rupee also strengthened by Rs0.03 against the US dollar, ending at Rs276.72 in interbank trading. Lower oil prices eased inflation concerns, while traders still assigned a 77% chance to a US Federal Reserve rate increase in December.