Oil steady as markets focus on high-stakes US election

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As the US elections ballot counting continues, oil market analysts caution that it's “too early to call,” though some market participants anticipate Brent’s price to move higher if Republicans secure a win.

“Oil prices have held relatively steady as markets await the outcome of the US election, in what is expected to be a very close race,” two analysts from ING Bank said.

The neck-to-neck race between US Vice President and Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris and former US President and Republican Party-face Donald Trump has been the driving force in global markets in the past day.

“[Global] markets have been getting ahead to price for the Trump playbook in the likes of 2016,” IG’s market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said.

During Trump’s first term, the US oil industry got extensive federal support to increase production. “A Trump White House brings into focus his extreme policy positions. [It] would ultimately see oil demand stay higher for longer,” ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes remarked.

In contrast, a democratic sweep could see oil prices falling, Saxo Bank’s head of FX strategy Charu Chanana remarked.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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