FX.co ★ Oil Recovers from 4-Month Low

Crude oil climbed to $69.70 per barrel on Monday, edging up from a four-month low after the US and Iran agreed to suspend mutual attacks ahead of peace talks scheduled for later this week. The temporary truce comes on the heels of weekend hostilities in which a supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Qatari crude was hit near the Strait of Hormuz, briefly disrupting regional shipping. Although recent declines have wiped out nearly all of the conflict-driven price gains seen since late February, anxious shipowners remain highly reluctant to traverse the corridor. As a result, hundreds of vessels are still stranded in the Persian Gulf. Investors are now closely watching the upcoming diplomatic negotiations, as a breakthrough could pave the way for a lasting peace deal and the full, unrestricted reopening of this critical maritime chokepoint.