Published October 12, 2026 · 00:32 US/Eastern
Asian shares are mixed and oil prices fall about $1.50 as Trump says US will buy diesel from Russia - Audacy
medium impactOilUSD
Asian equity markets traded mixed on the session, while benchmark oil prices fell by roughly $1.50 after President Trump indicated the United States would purchase diesel from Russia. The move matters because Russia remains one of the world's largest diesel exporters, and any shift in how US buyers source refined products can ripple through global fuel balances.
For markets, the immediate signal is about supply expectations rather than a single headline number. If additional Russian diesel reaches US buyers, it could ease pressure on distillate inventories and, in turn, influence refining margins and crude demand assumptions. That helps explain why oil prices moved lower even as regional stock performance diverged.
What to watch: whether the stated purchases translate into actual cargo flows, how existing sanctions and logistics shape those volumes, and whether other buyers adjust their own sourcing in response. Traders will also monitor distillate inventories and refinery run rates for confirmation that supply conditions are genuinely shifting.
Source: Audacy