Oil prices fell on Monday as the world follows the event of Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington DC, while the Middle Eastern tensions calmed down.

It comes as Hamas and Israel reach a ceasefire agreement that led to the exchanges of prisoners and hostages. 

Oil futures marked a 1.3% profit last week as the US intensified its sanctions on Russian energy exports.

Following Trump’s inauguration, he is expected to issue a series of orders, including a removal of the temporary ban on exports of liquified natural gas. 

On trading, Brent March futures fell 1.2%, or 98 cents to $79.82 a barrel as of 16:48 GMT. 

Wall Street was closed today for the Martin Luther King holiday and will resume operations tomorrow.

Wall Street closed Friday with weekly gains, with Dow Jones, S&P 500, and NASDAQ rising 3.7%, 2.9%, and 2.4% respectively. 

All eyes are now focused on Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony later today in Washington DC. 

International benchmark Brent dropped in American trade on Monday to a two-week trough, expanding the losses for the third straight session and moving away from a six-month high on profit-taking.

Investors are shunning big positions before Trump’s inauguration today, with his speech expected to cast light on the priorities of his new administration, with a particular focus on tariffs. 

Prices 

Brent slid 1.4% to $79.47 a barrel, the lowest since January 10, with a session-high at $80.90.

Brent closed down 0.65% on Friday on profit-taking away from a six-month high at $82.56.

Global oil prices rallied 1.25% last week, marking the fourth weekly profit in a row as the US intensified sanctions on the Russian energy sector. 

Trump’s Inauguration 

US President-elect Donald Trump will make his speech and be officially sworn in as President later today, with Trump likely to delineate his main policy goals, with a focus on the economy, internal and international policies. 

Trump is also expected to focus on his tariff plans, aimed at protecting US industries, which would sharpen trade tensions with international allies. 

Bitcoin surged on Monday to a record high, approaching $100,000 for the first time ever amid a strong wave of purchases before US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

It comes at a time when MicroStrategy raised its holdings of bitcoin, and following a spate of weak US data, which bolstered the case for a Fed rate cut in March.

The Price

Bitcoin rose 8.1% at Bitstamp today to $109,356, a record high, with a session-low at $99,462.

On Sunday, bitcoin lost 3.1%, the first loss in three days on profit-taking away from a four-week high.

Bitcoin rose 7.15% last week, the second weekly profit in three weeks. 

Crypto Market Value 

The market value of cryptocurrencies rose by $155 billion on Monday to a total of $3.870 trillion.

Trump

During his inauguration speech next Monday, Donald Trump is expected to outline his future vision for America with a focus on implementing his election pledges.

Trump promised to boost economic growth and infrastructure spending, and execute friendly policies to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

Since Trump’s inauguration, bitcoin rallied over 60% with his administration expected to adopt a more flexible approach towards cryptocurrencies. 

During his election campaign, Trump made a wide swathe of pledges, including a promise to make the US “the world’s crypto capital” and to shift bitcoin mining into the country. 

MicroStrategy 

Through the X platform, MicroStrategy CEO Micheal Saylor announced the purchase of 2530 new bitcoins, bringing the company’s total bitcoin holdings to a new record.

The purchase was done between January 8 and 13, spending $243 million in total, meaning the company paid on average $95972 per bitcoin, with MicroStrategy now owning 450,000 bitcoins overall, averaging $62,700 per bitcoin.

US Rates

Data released last week showed US core prices slowed down in December, with retail sales also slowing down past estimates, while unemployment claims edged higher.

According to the Fedwatch tool, the odds of a 0.25% January interest rate cut stood at just 1%. 

Some Fed officials stated that recent Wednesday data showed US inflation continues to taper off, even with increasing uncertainty in upcoming months. 

Fed member Christopher Waller said three three or four interest rate cuts this year are still possible if US data continued to weaken.