Oil Prices Surge, Gold Drops: Trump Tightens Sanctions on Russia and Targets Indian Oil Imports

Global markets reacted sharply to the latest move by President Donald Trump, who announced expanded sanctions against Russia’s oil sector.

While oil prices surged, gold tumbled, reflecting the growing tension between geopolitical uncertainty and shifting investor sentiment.

Trump Targets Rosneft and Lukoil The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on two key pillars of Russia’s energy industry — Rosneft, led by Putin’s longtime ally Igor Sechin, and the private oil company Lukoil.

The decision immediately boosted energy prices:

🔹 West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose to nearly $60 per barrel

🔹 Brent crude climbed 3%, trading above $64 per barrel In contrast, gold prices fell sharply to $4,000 per ounce, after losing 0.5% on Thursday. Trump justified the new sanctions by citing Russia’s refusal to pursue peace in Ukraine, warning that pressure on Moscow will continue.

He also threatened India with higher tariffs if it does not halt the import of Russian oil.

India Under Pressure, China Left Untouched According to Indian refinery officials, imports of Russian oil are gradually approaching zero, as U.S. restrictions make continued trade nearly impossible.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department is imposing sanctions on “two Russian oil giants that finance the Kremlin’s war machine,” while urging allies to join and enforce similar measures. Trump noted that he hopes the sanctions won’t last long, but admitted that his talks with Putin have gone nowhere.

While India faces increasing pressure, China has so far avoided direct action.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on two Chinese energy firms last week and expanded penalties against Rosneft and Lukoil.

Analysts: U.S. Took a Meaningful Step, but Impact May Be Limited According to Rachel Ziemba of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), the sanctions represent “one of the most meaningful actions the U.S. has taken so far.”

However, she warned that illicit financial networks could limit their effectiveness. “It all depends on whether India and China fear a new wave of secondary sanctions,”

Ziemba explained. Energy expert Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights, added that markets will need time to assess the full impact: “Refineries in India and China are likely to be most concerned right now.” Trump also confirmed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him that India would reduce purchases of Russian oil.

He reminded reporters that the G7’s previous price cap on Russian oil was designed to curb Kremlin revenues without disrupting global supply.

Gold Prices Drop, but Analysts Remain Bullish Unlike oil, gold experienced a sharp sell-off.

Spot gold fell by more than 9% over two days, halting the steady uptrend that had lasted since mid-August.

However, Darwei Kung, Head of Commodities at DWS Group, described the move as a short-term correction: “This decline doesn’t change our long-term bullish outlook on gold.” Similarly, Adrian Day, founder of Adrian Day Asset Management, believes that gold is near its bottom. “The fundamentals haven’t changed — the Fed won’t raise rates, and the government isn’t addressing its deficit. Nothing meaningful has shifted in gold’s underlying story,” he said. Charlie Massy-Collier, strategist at Citigroup, noted that gold prices have simply “outpaced their own narrative”, suggesting the bullish trend will return, though “there’s no rush.” Meanwhile, Bloomberg macro strategist Ven Ram called the drop “an unfortunate coincidence”, as it came while investors were weighing potential progress in U.S.–China trade talks, a factor that temporarily dampened demand for safe-haven assets.

Summary The combination of U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil industry, rising geopolitical tension, and capital rotation between commodities has created a sharp divergence in markets:

🔹 Oil prices are climbing on supply fears

🔹 Gold is falling amid investor overreaction

🔹 India and China are emerging as key swing factors While oil continues to benefit from political turmoil, gold may regain its shine if concerns about U.S. fiscal instability or recession resurface in the coming weeks.

#oil , #GOLD , #TRUMP , #russia , #Geopolitics

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