Live news: Oil edges higher as Ukraine strikes Russian ships and Saudi Arabia extends cuts

Wheat prices climbed on Monday after Ukraine’s drone strikes against a Russian naval vessel and oil tanker over the weekend raised concerns over the potential impact on supply from the world’s largest exporter.

Chicago wheat futures rose as much as 3.4 per cent to a high of $6.545 per bushel, extending gains from the previous trading. Corn futures dropped 0.21 per cent, surrendering part of Friday’s rally.

Ukraine damaged a Russian warship in an overnight sea drone attack on Russia’s crude-exploiting Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on Friday. On Saturday, Kyiv used another drone to attack a Russian oil tanker in the Kerch Strait.

Oil prices edged higher on Monday morning and briefly reached their highest levels in nearly four months, amid concerns over escalation in the war in Ukraine and production cuts by Saudi Arabia.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, and US marker West Texas Intermediate each added as much as 0.6 per cent to hit $86.73 and $83.30 a barrel respectively, the highest levels since mid-April.

Ukraine added a new front in its war against Russia over the weekend, using drones to strike a naval vessel at a Russian oil-exporting port in the Black Sea and an oil tanker in the Kerch Strait.

The attacks followed Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it would extend a voluntary production cut to the end of September.

Pakistan: Popular opposition leader Imran Khan was taken into custody at the weekend following an Islamabad high court’s decision to sentence him to three years in jail on corruption charges. Meanwhile, Pakistani officials approved a plan to redraw the country’s electoral boundaries, probably delaying this year’s election by several months and further fuelling political tensions.

Women’s World Cup: The tournament is up for grabs, with defending champion US now eliminated. England and Nigeria face off today, followed by host country Australia against Denmark.

Markets: Stocks in Tokyo and futures in Hong Kong declined on Monday morning. Global investors are looking ahead to inflation data from China on Wednesday and the US on Thursday. Price growth in China has remained stubbornly low, highlighting weak consumption and adding to calls for economic stimulus. US inflation has tapered off in recent months from multi-decade highs, with traders now focused on whether the Federal Reserve has finished its monetary tightening campaign for the year.

Employers and landlords who offer work or accommodation to migrants who arrived in Britain by irregular routes face sharply higher fines under the latest attempt by the government to clamp down on asylum seekers crossing the Channel in small boats.

The move comes as Suella Braverman, home secretary, hopes this week to move the first asylum seekers from hotels into a floating accommodation barge at Portland, Dorset, after a number of delays.

In a week where there will be a renewed focus on the issue of irregular migration, ministers will triple fines for employers regarded as contributing to the “pull factors” that attract people to make the crossing.

Read more about the fines here.

Europe’s biggest companies have suffered at least €100bn in direct losses from their operations in Russia since President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, according to analysis by the Financial Times.

A survey of 600 European groups’ annual reports and 2023 financial statements shows that 176 companies have recorded asset impairments, foreign exchange-related charges and other one-off expenses as a result of the sale, closure or reduction of Russian businesses.

The aggregate figure does not include the war’s indirect macroeconomic impacts such as higher energy and commodities costs. The war has also delivered a profit boost for oil and gas groups and defence companies.

Read more about European companies’ Russia losses here.

China has signalled it is willing to attend further international talks on resolving the conflict in Ukraine, according to European officials who hailed its “constructive” participation in a Saudi Arabian forum that excluded Moscow.

The weekend talks in Jeddah, which were attended by dozens of countries and focused on a 10-point peace plan proposed by Kyiv, concluded on Sunday without concrete developments. But the presence of Beijing, which weeks earlier declined to attend similar talks in Copenhagen, was seen as a coup for Kyiv and became the focus of the event among participants.

Read more about the Jeddah talks here.

China will report July inflation figures on Wednesday, with the US following a day later. The good news is that inflation is falling all over the world, but the national picture varies greatly. China is at one extreme end, flirting with deflation. The figures for the US on Thursday will give an indication about whether the Federal Reserve’s rate-tightening cycle is close to ending.

Expectations are not high for the UK’s second-quarter GDP estimate on Friday. While signalling that its battle against inflation is being won, the Bank of England last week issued forecasts showing that GDP would barely increase in 2024 and 2025.

Read the full week ahead calendar here.