Oil prices fell during early trading on Monday as trade concerns overrode fears of supply disruption following Friday's attack on an Iranian tanker in the Red Sea.
Brent was down 0.8 per cent at $60.01 per barrel at 12.45pm UAE time, while West Texas Intermediate also lost steam and was trading 0.9 per cent lower at $54.22 per barrel.
The benchmarks slumped as investors remained sceptical about the breakthrough between the US and China as a first step to end their trade war.
The world's two biggest economies worked to agree on a detente of sorts, with the US administration agreeing to freeze tariffs that were due to be introduced on $250 billion (Dh918bn) worth of Chinese goods.
In return, China agreed to purchase $40bn to $50bn worth of American farm products such as soybeans and livestock.
However, the truce has not changed sentiment, with the markets fearful of further blows to growth as a result of trade war-fuelled recessionary headwinds.
"Prices are already headed lower in early trading today, and while the market waits for potential responses from the Iranians, the continued inability of geopolitics to sustain price gains is a testament to the state of concerns over demand," JBC Energy said in a note on Monday.
On Friday, an Iranian tanker, Sabiti ,came under attack in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia. Iran, which initially blamed the attack on Riyadh, later retracted the blame. The oil market is also downbeat following the International Energy Agency's latest revision to demand growth.
The IEA revised down its forecast for oil demand growth by 100,000 barrels per day, despite observing that markets had priced in little geopolitical risk premium after the attacks on Saudi oil facilities on September 14.
The IEA said in the report that markets had "shrugged off" what had been a "textbook case" of a large-scale supply outage, referring to the attacks on Saudi oil facilities. While prices spiked up to $71 per barrel during intraday trading following the attacks, which temporarily knocked out 5 per cent of global supply, they languished $2 per barrel below pre-attack levels last week as Saudi Aramco said production capacity had returned to previous levels.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
