Iran Deal Looking Less Likely, Brent Gets A Boost

Brent crude oil traded steadily below $108 as World powers continued their talks with Iran in an attempt to end a decade long stand off over Iran's nuclear development program. The commodity traded at $107.69 after gaining some momentum following pessimistic remarks about Wednesday's negotiations.

reported that a US official commented that it would likely be “very hard” for the two sides to hammer out a deal this week. Before the talks commenced, both sides sounded confident that an agreement would be reached, thus taking Brent prices lower. However, with a deal looking less likely, sanctions keeping much of Iran's oil from the markets will remain in place and keep Brent prices elevated. Gains were limited by the release of the US Federal Reserve's October meeting minutes which caused many to rethink their March 2014 taper estimates. The minutes showed that some of the Fed's board members saw the US' recovery as sustainable and were considering that the bank begin to pull back on its stimulus spending at one of the next few meetings. Recent word from the US central bank has been dovish for the most part, causing investors to place their bets on a Spring 2014 taper. The meeting minutes showed that some US central bankers could looking to reduce the bank's quantitative easing as early as December. Moving forward US jobs data will be a major driver of price as Fed officials have always said the taper timing will be linked to the strength of the US job market.