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Oil falls more than $1/bbl on Middle East peace talks, United States rate cut doubts

Oil rates lost more than $1 a. barrel on Monday as Israel ceasefire talks in Cairo tempered. worries of a wider Middle East dispute, while U.S. inflation information. dimmed the possibility of imminent rates of interest cuts.

Brent unrefined futures for June settled at $88.40 a. barrel, falling $1.10, or 1.2%. The more active July agreement. ended at $87.20, losing $1.01 a barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures settled at. $ 82.63 a barrel, falling $1.22, or 1.5%.

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 25 Palestinians and. injured many others on Monday, as Hamas leaders arrived in Cairo. for a brand-new round of talks with Egyptian and Qatari arbitrators.

Egypt is enthusiastic however waiting on an action on the strategy from. Israel and Hamas, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said.

You're seeing the geopolitical threat premium leak out again. today due to the fact that of no new escalation in the Israel-Hamas. situation, said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC. A. ceasefire or captive negation release would take out a lot more. danger premium.

Markets were also on expect the U.S. Federal Reserve's. May 1 financial policy evaluation, which could suggest the direction. of the central bank's rates of interest choices.

The language and forward projections will be pored over by. all market participants, said John Evans, analyst at oil broker. PVM.

Financiers are very carefully pricing a higher possibility that. the Fed might hike rates of interest by a quarter percentage point. this year and next as inflation and the labor market remain. durable.

U.S. regular monthly inflation increased moderately in March, putting a. damper on expectations of rate cuts in the near future. Lower. inflation would have increased the probability of rate cuts,. which tend to promote financial growth and oil demand.

The sticky U.S. inflation sparks issues for. ' higher-for-longer' interest rates, causing a more powerful U.S. dollar and putting pressure on product rates, independent. market analyst Tina Teng said.

A more powerful dollar makes oil more pricey for those holding. other currencies. Furthermore, the oil market was looking. forward to the regular monthly U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which is. due on Friday and carefully watched by the Fed.

That will likely have a significant effect on next week's. oil trade, said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates.

By contrast, an early take a look at April inflation data from the. euro zone, from Spain and Germany, uses a mixed picture for. the European Central Bank, but looks unlikely to hinder a June. rate cut.

Inflation data from the wider euro zone is to be launched on. Tuesday.

(source: Reuters)