* Prices rise 2% on Friday after Iran tanker attack
* Traders eye U.S.-China pact, details of phase 1 agreement
By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed
on Monday, holding onto 2% gains from Friday amid renewed
geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while a detente in the
U.S.-China trade war buoyed market sentiment.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 9 cents to $60.60 a barrel
by 1208 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
futures CLc1 was at $54.79 a barrel, up 9 cents.
Both contracts rose more than 3% last week, their first
weekly gain in three weeks.
Most of the gains were posted on Friday after an Iranian oil
tanker was attacked off Saudi Arabia's coast in the Red Sea.
Investigations are under way to determine if the tanker was hit
by missiles, which could ratchet up tensions between Tehran and
Riyadh if confirmed. The emergence of a phase 1 trade deal between the United
States and China and a goodwill move by Washington to suspend
threatened tariffs on Chinese products also lifted global
financial markets. Investors remained cautious given that few details emerged
from the talks, while it may take another five weeks for the two
countries to sign a pact.
"Traders view the deal in a tentative light as a tariff
detente falls well short of bridging the critical trust gap
which is an implicit removal of a significant chunk of existing
tariff," said Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at
AxiTrader in a note.
"This baby-step agreement could take weeks to iron out."