Global Oil Prices Elevated Ahead of Trump's Iran Announcement

Oil prices stood near their highest since late 2014, ahead of an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump on whether he would withdraw from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, which fuelled concerns about crude supply. Asian shares firmed slightly in early trade with technology stocks resilient after generally upbeat earnings despite weakness in the global smartphone market and concerns about more regulation.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures on Monday rose above $70 for the first time since November 2014, having gained more than 18 percent from this year`s low touched in February.

Oil prices later pared some of those gains as traders took profit after Trump confirmed in a tweet that he would announce his decision on the nuclear deal at 1800 GMT on Tuesday.

"The oil market has priced in the high likelihood of Trump withdrawing from the nuclear deal with Iran. If he is going to impose sanctions similar to those the U.S. had in 2012, that would likely to cause a shortage in oil," said Tatsufumi Okoshi, senior commodity economist at Nomura Securities.

In addition, falls in Venezuelan oil production due to problems at the country`s oil company PDVSA also added to the rally.

U.S. crude futures last traded at $70.04 per barrel, down 1.0 percent from Monday`s settlement price.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures stood at $75.62 per barrel, down 0.7 percent, having risen as high as $76.34 on Monday.

While caution on Trump`s statement kept many investors on edge, Asian shares made small gains, led by technology firms.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.2 percent, with information technology shares rising 0.4 percent. Japan`s Nikkei was almost flat.

On Wall Street on Monday, the S&P 500 gained 0.35 percent, boosted by Apple`s sixth straight day of gains.

In currency markets, the dollar broadly held firm on the prospect of solid U.S. economic growth, helped partly by Trump`s tax cuts and spending, pointed to further rises in U.S. interest rates down the road.

That prompted investors to buy back dollars they had sold earlier this year on worries about Trump`s protectionist trade policies.