Crude Tumbles as Talks Take the Edge Off

WTI stands at $97.49, down 6.368%, and Brent at $106.60, down 6.021%, with heating oil at $4.4739, down 4.3242%, while natural gas rose to $2.936, up 1.311%. Monday reports said crude fell as Iranian and Qatari officials held a third consecutive day of talks aimed at ending the war, the weekend passed without a major escalation, and OPEC+ kept its December production targets steady at Sunday's meeting — a sharp reversal of Friday's rally, which had taken Brent to a six-month high at the end of October.

A calm open for the field: wheat at 604.5, up 0.166%, corn at 449, up 0.279%, soybeans at 1230, down 0.344%, and soybean oil at 65.03, down 1.32%. Grain Central's daily wire noted wheat has now posted a ninth consecutive weekly loss and corn closed October down roughly 10%, while ADM's morning outlook described feed grains firmer and the soybean complex mixed to start the week.

Raw sugar eased to 19.08, down 1.446% on the day. In India, market reports described crushing stalled in parts of Maharashtra amid cane-price protests, with ex-mill prices moving firmer — ₹5,200 a quintal in Maharashtra and ₹5,600–5,700 in Uttar Pradesh, per ChiniMandi's market coverage.

Gold stands at $3,941.90 an ounce and silver at $50.842. On the board, the S&P 500 stands at 7580.07, down 1.818%, the Nasdaq at 25436.998, down 2.855%, and the TSX at 35620.03, down 1.735%, while the FTSE held near flat at 10726.08, down 0.034%, the Nifty rose to 23440.8, up 1.682%, and the Sensex to 75692.78, up 1.656%. Per US dollar: CAD 1.396839, INR 95.082494, EUR 0.896073, GBP 0.746906, AED 3.6725 and CNY 6.660856.

The week turns on Tuesday's US midterm elections on 3 November and the US jobs report on Friday 6 November, with the next OPEC+ meeting set for 29 November. Fertilizer stays on the watch list: Kpler data reported Middle East fertilizer shipments down 70–75% in September against a year earlier, and the volume and pricing of India's next urea tender are expected to be key factors for November. From Punjab to the ports, the house watches fuel, freight and the dollar — and prices its work by LOI, as always.

Orientation only — firm prices by LOI.