Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday<\/strong>, giving back much of the previous session\u2019s rebound, as fears of a prolonged U.S.-China trade war<\/strong> resurfaced and weak inflation data from China<\/strong> deepened concerns over global demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of 07:55 ET (11:55 GMT)<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both contracts had surged over 4% on Wednesday following President Donald Trump\u2019s 90-day pause<\/strong> on reciprocal tariffs for most trading partners. But markets turned cautious again as it became clear China was excluded<\/strong> from that reprieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s latest move provided temporary relief for some U.S. allies, but his decision to increase tariffs on Chinese imports to 125%<\/strong> (from 104%) has deepened tensions<\/strong> with the world\u2019s second-largest economy<\/strong> and top crude importer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This exclusion casts a long shadow over global oil demand, with analysts warning that growth risks remain firmly tilted to the downside<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis leaves significant uncertainty over oil demand growth, with more risk to downside for prices,\u201d analysts noted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n UBS<\/strong> downgraded its oil price outlook, stating that two major downside risks it previously warned of have now materialized:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Revised UBS forecasts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fresh data out of Beijing on Thursday added to bearish sentiment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The figures suggest weak domestic demand<\/strong>, likely exacerbated by ongoing trade tensions<\/strong> with the U.S. Economists pointed to early signs that consumer activity is slowing<\/strong>, particularly after Beijing\u2019s retaliatory tariffs against the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chinese oil imports have already been trending lower over the past year due to the country\u2019s sluggish economic recovery<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding to the bearish tone, U.S. Energy Department data<\/strong> showed a larger-than-expected build in crude inventories<\/strong>, reinforcing the view of ample supply<\/strong> in the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, analysts noted that a sharp drawdown in distillate inventories<\/strong> (such as diesel and heating oil) suggested that some sectors of energy demand remain resilient<\/strong>, possibly supported by transport and industrial usage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With Trump\u2019s tariff strategy still evolving<\/strong> and China showing no signs of backing down<\/strong>, oil markets are likely to remain volatile<\/strong>. Meanwhile, weakening macro data and rising OPEC+ production<\/strong> are adding further layers of uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unless a diplomatic breakthrough<\/strong> emerges or demand-side indicators<\/strong> in China and the U.S. improve, analysts caution that crude prices could face continued pressure<\/strong> in the short term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday, giving back much of the previous session\u2019s rebound, as fears of a prolonged U.S.-China trade war resurfaced and weak inflation data from China deepened concerns over global demand. As of 07:55 ET (11:55 GMT): Brent crude futures (June delivery) dropped 2.8% to $63.62 per barrel West Texas Intermediate (WTI) …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":108378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,6827,49,36],"tags":[7524,6936,6858],"class_list":["post-113506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-commodities-news","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-market-updates","tag-energy","tag-oil-prices","tag-us-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113507,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113506\/revisions\/113507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n\n\n\nChina Left Out of Tariff Pause: Demand Uncertainty Rises<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nUBS Cuts Oil Price Forecasts on Weaker Demand, Rising Supply<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nChina Inflation Misses Forecasts, Signaling Economic Weakness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nU.S. Crude Inventories Rise, Though Distillate Demand Offers Some Hope<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nOutlook: Volatile Path Ahead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n