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Oil falls on renewed push for Middle East ceasefire

Oil rates fell on Monday, ending a multisession rally after Israel lowered its troops in southern Gaza and started a fresh round of ceasefire talks with Hamas.

Brent crude futures fell 79 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $90.38 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude shut down 48 cents, or 0.6%, at $86.43. It was the first decline in 5 sessions for Brent and the first in seven for WTI.

Israel and Hamas opened a fresh round of Gaza ceasefire talks on Sunday, however a Hamas official said the talks stayed deadlocked. Both benchmarks dropped by more than $2 throughout the session, with investors focusing on Israel's choice to withdraw more soldiers from southern Gaza.

Israel's choice has minimized somewhat the geopolitical threat premium, UBS expert Giovanni Staunovo said.

Weighing on oil prices were expectations that U.S. crude oil stocks likely rose increased week, Staunovo saidStated

Crude oil standards bounced off session lows after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a date was set for an invasion of Rafah, indicating the dispute is far from resolved, stated Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.

The decrease in oil rates is likewise capped by unpredictability around how Iran will respond to the bombing of its consulate in Syria recently, he included.

Tehran has said it will retaliate, feeding issue that the Middle East dispute might expand. Crude criteria jumped 4% recently, with Brent futures increasing for the fourth successive week - the longest rally because August in 2015.

Amongst factors affecting oil's need outlook, a U.S. employment report on Friday recommended the economy ended the Quarter on strong ground, which could trigger the Federal Reserve to delay rates of interest cuts.

Financiers will search consumer rate index data from the U.S. and China this week for further ideas on economic health of the world's leading 2 oil consumers.

(source: Reuters)