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Asian Markets Mixed as Fed Rate Cut Bets Grow and Japan’s Nikkei Leads Gains 
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Brent crude oil futures climbed on Friday as slow-moving Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations kept geopolitical risks elevated, while traders awaited Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting for signals on potential output changes. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices, however, remained frozen after a system outage at CME Group halted all futures and options trading on Globex due to a cooling issue at its CyrusOne data centers. Brent, which trades on ICE, was unaffected.
Front-month Brent crude, set to expire Friday, rose 24 cents to $63.58 a barrel by 0452 GMT, while the more actively traded February contract gained 23 cents to $63.10. WTI stood at $59.08 a barrel, up 43 cents, though trading remained suspended. Because of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, WTI had no settlement on Thursday.
Despite this week’s rebound, both benchmarks are on track for a fourth consecutive monthly decline—the longest downtrend since 2023—driven by expectations of rising global supply. Hopes earlier in the week for a Russia-Ukraine peace breakthrough initially weighed on prices, but as talks stalled, crude regained momentum. Both Brent and WTI are poised to end the week more than 1% higher.
Analysts noted that while a finalized peace agreement could eventually trigger eased sanctions on Russian oil and increase supply, such an outcome still appears distant. Russian President Vladimir Putin said draft proposals discussed with the United States and Ukraine could form the basis of future negotiations, though Russia is prepared to continue fighting if they do not. Ukraine said additional discussions with the U.S. are planned to hammer out a security framework.
Meanwhile, OPEC+ is widely expected to keep current production levels unchanged during Sunday’s meeting, according to delegates familiar with ongoing discussions. Oil prices also found support from growing expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut next month, potentially boosting economic activity and energy demand, as well as a decline in U.S. oil rig counts to a four-year low.
