INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Oil prices sink nearly 6% to a touch above $100, down for a second straight sessionCrude oil prices extended their decline and sank nearly 6
per cent to a touch above $100 as hopes of peace talks helped calm investors.Some faint hopes have emerged that peace talks may somehow lead
to a de-escalation after, as a United States official said Russia was showing signs it might be willing to have substantive negotiations
benchmark Brent crude futures for the front-end month fell nearly 6 per cent to last trade around $100.98 per barrel, after falling over 5
per cent on Monday.What has helped ease oil supply concerns is the International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol urging oil-producing
countries to pump more to stabilise markets affected by the war in Ukraine.According to Reuters, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
is trying to persuade Saudi Arabia to increase its oil output, a senior minister said on Monday, following reports, that Mr Johnson would
travel to the OPEC heavyweight this week."Crude has come under pressure amid efforts to resolve Russia-Ukraine issue, increased virus cases
in China and profit-taking ahead of Fed decision
Crude, however, pared some losses post-China's better than expected industrial production and retail sales data
Crude has already corrected sharply, and we may see some stability as focus shifts to weekly inventory report," said Ravindra Rao, Head of
Commodity Research at Kotak Securities.On Tuesday, China recorded a steep jump in daily COVID-19 infections, recording 5,280 new cases -
with new symptomatic cases more than doubling from a day earlier to a two-year high as a virus outbreak expanded rapidly in the country's
northeast.The record figure was driven by a surge in nationwide Omicron outbreaks, with over 3,000 domestic transmissions.Ukraine's
President Volodymyr Zelensky said late on Monday that negotiations with Russia, the world's second-largest crude exporter, will continue
on Tuesday.Zelensky also said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as part of a negotiation effort to end the war with
Russia "with a fair peace."The United States warned China after "intense" talks on Monday against helping Moscow invade Ukraine.
