Oil Reounds After Shock Trump Victory for U.S. Presidency

Oil prices rose on Wednesday as U.S. financial markets bounced back from an early Brexit-like slide following Donald Trump's surprise victory in the U.S. presidential election.

Crude had tumbled as much as 4 percent early in the session, in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. presidential election results. U.S. crude tumbled to near $43, a near two-month low.

The selloff was part of a broad-based market reaction where investors fled risky assets such as stocks and the dollar , which have since turned positive as well.

Brent futures rose 36 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $46.40 a barrel by 2:03 p.m. EST (1903 GMT). U.S. crude rose 42 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $45.40 per barrel.

U.S. gasoline futures fell to a two-month low earlier in the session before also recovering most of its losses. Gasoline was down less than 1 percent Wednesday afternoon.

With a Trump victory, some analysts said there were supportive factors for oil prices such as a potential shift in U.S. policy toward Iran.

Trump has criticised the West's nuclear deal with Iran, an accord that has allowed Tehran to increase crude exports sharply this year. Iran said Trump should stay committed to the deal.

The Obama administration said it will remain committed to the Iran deal through its final months.

"It remains to be seen whether U.S. President Trump will revoke the nuclear agreement with Iran that he has criticised so strongly," Commerzbank said in a note.

"If so, oil prices would presumably rise."

Other analysts, however, said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries attempts to prop up oil prices just got much harder with the Trump win.

The oil-producing cartel may have to battle weaker demand for crude if the global economy declines, and the prospect of increased U.S. oil output given Trump's pledge to open all federal land and waters for fossil fuel exploration.

In an attempt to boost prices, OPEC agreed in September to cut output, although investor doubts have grown that it will be able to implement the deal at its next meeting on Nov. 30.

Oil prices remain at less than half of their level of mid-2014, pressured by excess supplies.

Oil prices briefly tumbled on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration released weekly data showing another build in U.S. crude inventories, but eventually the market looked past it.

EIA said U.S. crude stockpiles rose 2.5 million barrels last week, a million more than analysts had forecast.

"The report is fairly neutral, and the market is accordingly having a muted response," said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at energy data provider ClipperData. (Additional reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar and Ethan Lou in New York, Alex Lawler in London, Henning Gloystein and Maha El Dahan; Editing by David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker)