IRAN/NUCLEAR/OIL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Oil prices settled lower on Tuesday [5-8-18], recovering some losses after President Donald Trump announced his decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal. Light, sweet crude for June delivery settled down 2.4% at $69.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, breaking a four-session winning streak. Brent, the global benchmark, fell 1.7% to $74.85. Prices swung wildly ahead of Mr. Trump’s speech, in which he said the U.S. will withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reimpose ‘the highest level of economic sanctions’ against Iran. U.S. oil futures fell as much as 4.4% Tuesday morning on speculation Mr. Trump could decide to leave the deal intact, and briefly returned to above $70 during the announcement…Crude prices climbed to the highest level since November 2014 on Monday, lifted by concerns that fresh sanctions will hurt Iranian exports and reduce global supply. Mr. Trump also threatened to sanction other nations that help Iran pursue nuclear weapons.”
-Stephanie Yang, “Oil Pares Losses After Trump Withdraws From Iran Deal,” The Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2018 4:59 pm