Oil prices slump on Iran deal

03:15 BST

Oil prices slumped after Iran and world powers agreed the "key parameters" of a nuclear deal designed to restrict Tehran's atomic programme.

Brent, the global oil benchmark, was down 3.8 per cent to $54.95 a barrel on Friday morning. It had fallen as much as 5.3 per cent to $54.06 a barrel in US trading hours, just after the deal was announced.

West Texas Intermediate, the US oil standard, was down 1.9 per cent at $49.14 a barrel.

Iran has historically been one of the world's major oil producers and an easing of the sanctions now imposed on the country's oil exports could bring millions of barrels of additional crude oil into the already saturated market, further depressing prices.

Beyond oil, markets were subdued with Asia Pacific equities ending the week on a quiet note as bourses across much of the region were closed due to the Good Friday holiday.

In Japan the Nikkei was up 0.4 per cent, shrugging off a disappointing purchasing manager's index for the services sector in March.

Markit's monthly index of the services sector fell for the third consecutive month to 48.4 in March, underscoring the difficulties of revitalising the world's third-largest economy. A score above 50 is needed to indicate growth. In February it was 48.5.

Elsewhere in the region, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.2 per cent and South Korea's Kospi Composite was up 0.3 per cent.

Markets were closed in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and India.

Gold was down 0.5 per cent to $1197.25 an ounce.

Overnight on Wall Street, US stocks went into the Easter break on a firmer note after a week of mixed data releases. The S&P 500 ended the session 0.4 per cent higher at 2,066. However, the US equity benchmark was still 2.4 per cent down from a record closing high secured a month ago.

Across the Atlantic, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index slipped 0.2 per cent on Thursday but was still up 0.6 per cent over the four-day period.

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