Investing.com - Crude oil prices were mixed on a holiday-thinned Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said a deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program was possible after weeks of tension in the Middle East.
"I really believe that Iran would like to make a deal, and I think that's very smart of them, and I think that's a possibility to happen," Trump said during a news conference with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.
Trump also said he wasn't looking to force regime change on the Islamic Republic.
Tensions between the two countries had risen after an attack on oil tankers in the Gulf region earlier in the month, followed by drone attacks on Saudi Arabian export pipelines. The U.S. has blamed the attacks on Iran and its Yemeni proxies. Iran denies responsibility.
West Texas Crude oil futures for July slipped 0.02% to $58.62 a barrel as of 8:26 AM ET (12:26 GMT), down from a two-and-half-week high of $63.81 earlier. Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., rose 0.7% to $67.92 a barrel.
The New York and London stock exchanges are both closed today for public holidays.
Meanwhile, trade tensions between Washington and Beijing remained in focus, as profits of China’s industrial firms fell in April due to slowing demand and activity.
The data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday shows that the Chinese economy is starting to feel the strain of the ongoing trade war.
China's automobile sales, which is a key driver of global oil demand growth, is expected to stagnate this year, after contracting for the first time in more than two decades in 2018, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday. Given the rising share of electric vehicles, that implies another year of relatively weak demand for gasoline.
In other energy trading, Gasoline RBOB Futures inched up 0.1% to $1.9245 a gallon, while heating oil gained 0.6% to $1.9850 a gallon. Natural gas futures slumped 1% to $2.585 per million British thermal units.
-Reuters contributed to this report.