The euro rose against the dollar and crude settled lower on Oct. 20, while oil traders weighed diplomatic contacts involving Iran against risks to Middle East energy supplies.
The euro was up 0.22% at $1.1235 in a Reuters market report published at 2:47 p.m. EDT. The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.25% at 101.71. Reuters linked the dollar’s weakness in part to declines in oil prices and longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields. Investors were also assessing whether investment flows into U.S. artificial intelligence companies would hold up.
Brent crude futures settled at $108.79 a barrel, down 76 cents, or 0.69%, after reaching $111.99 during the session. The expiring November West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contract settled at $101.79, down $1.87, or 1.8%. The more active December WTI contract settled at $97.82, down 72 cents, Reuters reported.
The New Arab, citing unnamed sources, reported that Qatar and Pakistan had proposed pairing an unannounced visit to Iranian nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with Iranian access to interest earned on $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets held in Qatar. No official statement has confirmed the reported package.
Iran’s public position remained conditional. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir that the United States must lift threats and sanctions before talks, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the country had no new terms beyond its previous seven conditions.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Oct. 6 that it was exchanging messages between Washington and Tehran as a mediator. An earlier effort produced an interim agreement in June through Pakistani mediation, but fighting resumed weeks later, Reuters reported.
Reuters said oil traders also considered Houthi claims of attacks on Saudi infrastructure and reports of vessel attacks in the Gulf. Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed the Houthi claims, which Reuters said it could not independently verify.
