Crude oil poised to close unchanged amid geopolitical tensions

WTI Oil sell-off gets nearly fully erased at the start of the US trading session. Oil prices are erasing earlier losses after harsh rhetoric from Iran which said it is ready to respond when Israel should retaliate.

More specific, Iran vowed to target several nuclear sites in Israel, which would mean substantial damage on the ground and in the region. Tensions and tit-for-tat headlines are spiraling yet again out of control, and the added sanctions from the US on Venezuela, Iran, and tariffs on China steel and aluminium are further driving up uncertainty and geopolitical tail risk.

The US Dollar, meanwhile, is having a change of heart as well, turning back in the green after yet again upbeat US data and beat on estimates across the board. Overnight several central banks had issued concerns on the strong US Dollar.

In Asia the Bank of Japan and the Bank of South Korea even took it a step further and issued a joint statement saying that the strong US Dollar is messing with their measures to tackle inflation, and a joint intervention might be needed in order to limit the inflation inflow for their depreciating local currency against the dollar.