Gold, a Safe-Haven Asset, Also Weakens
Asian Stock Markets Rally
Following Iran's limited retaliatory attack against the United States and subsequent reports of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, international oil prices and Bitcoin investors experienced contrasting fortunes. The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil fell to as low as $68 per barrel, while Bitcoin, which had hovered just above $100,000 the previous day, quickly rebounded to $105,000.
According to Bloomberg, the August WTI futures contract closed at $68.51 per barrel on June 23 (U.S. Eastern Time) on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 7.2% from the previous session. This decline was driven by expectations that Iran's retaliatory attack would remain limited to U.S. military bases in neighboring countries and would not escalate to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route.
As the downward trend in oil prices continued, WTI futures were trading at $65.10 per barrel as of 8:39 a.m. KST on June 24, down 4.98% from the previous session. This represents a sharp 11.83% drop compared to the closing price of $73.84 on June 20. The price has effectively returned to the pre-Israeli attack level of around $65 per barrel on June 13. The front-month Brent crude oil futures contract also plunged by $5.53 (7.2%) to $71.48 per barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange compared to the previous session.
Bitcoin rebounded sharply from the previous day's weakness, swiftly recovering to $105,000. According to global cryptocurrency market tracker CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin was trading at $105,173.97 at around 10:30 a.m. KST, up 4.34% from the previous day. However, it was down 1.84% compared to a week ago and 2.41% lower than a month ago. Over the past year, Bitcoin has risen by 67.17%.
Bitcoin surged after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire between Israel and Iran on the social networking platform Truth Social at around 7 a.m. KST. Within about 30 minutes, Bitcoin peaked at $106,116.86 before giving back some of its gains and is now maintaining the $105,000 level.
Gold futures, a leading safe-haven asset, fell 0.86% from the previous day to $3,365.90 on the U.S. COMEX in response to the ceasefire news. Asian stock markets also showed strength. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.01% to 38,742.37, while the KOSPI index climbed 2.62% to 3,093.57.
President Trump announced on Truth Social at around 7 a.m. KST that "a complete and comprehensive ceasefire agreement has been reached between Israel and Iran." Israel stated that it was willing to agree to a ceasefire on the condition that Iran halts its airstrikes, following the U.S.-led, Qatar-mediated negotiations. However, Iran added the caveat that "there is currently no ceasefire agreement" and that "a decision will be made at a later time."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
