By Adedapo Adesanya
An escalation of the trade war between the United States and China by President Donald Trump sent prices oil in the red territory on Thursday, but the response from Beijing pushed the value to the green zone on Friday.
China is threatening to retaliate if the new tariffs come into play, saying it would not be bullied by Washington.
On Thursday, oil prices fell by 7 percent, the worst single-day performance in over four years.
President Trump’s surprise announcement that he would put a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports caused a widespread selloff in equities and oil prices.
China said that it would retaliate if the tariffs go into effect. Trump left open the possibility that the U.S. could hold off, but only if China offered concessions.
With a selloff as steep as the one seen on Thursday, it was unsurprising that traders bought on the dip. Oil was up 3 percent in early trading on Friday.
At the global market yesterday, prices of the commodity bounced back to positive numbers for producers of oil across the globe.
The Brent Crude traded at $62 per barrel as it saw a $1.39 increase or an equivalent of 2.3 percent growth, with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude appreciating by $1.71 increase or an equivalent of 3.17 percent to trade at $56 per barrel.
Dipo Olowookere