US Futures Mixed as Brent Tops $105    10/12 06:43

   U.S. futures are mixed with the price of Brent crude climbing to more than 
$105 a barrel as President Donald Trump's plan to purchase diesel from Russia 
drew criticism from some lawmakers.

   (AP) -- U.S. futures are mixed with the price of Brent crude climbing to 
more than $105 a barrel as President Donald Trump's plan to purchase diesel 
from Russia drew criticism from some lawmakers.

   Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both edged up 0.1% 
on Monday. Nasdaq futures dipped 0.1%.

   Oil prices have continued to yo-yo because of uncertainty about when the war 
with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.

   Trump announced on social media Friday that he struck a deal to buy Russian 
diesel with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call, aiming to tamp 
down a spike in fuel prices ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections.

   The president said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of 
diesel to the American and global market, followed by an additional 500,000 
tons in November and 1 million tons "immediately thereafter." Russia will 
deliver an additional 3 million tons "within a short period of time" after 
that, he wrote.

   Trump said Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an "energy ceasefire 
" in the 4 1/2-year-old war. He offered no details on it and Kyiv reported 
attacks by Moscow on energy sites after his statement.

   The plan runs counter to U.S. efforts to cut the flow of money Russia gets 
from oil and gas sales that can be used to pay for its war against Ukraine. 
Trump's announcement came just a few weeks after Congress passed legislation 
that directed Trump to impose substantial tariffs on the top importers of 
Russian oil or natural gas, with an exception for countries that import less 
than 15% of Russia's natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to 
reduce those imports.

   A bipartisan group of six senators called Sunday for the administration to 
"immediately reverse course" on the plan.

   The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1% to $105.74 per 
barrel on Monday. U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 1% to $92.77 per barrel.

   This week investors will be keeping an eye on economic data including 
updates on inflation and retail sales. The biggest U.S. banks, including 
Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, will report earnings from the most 
recent quarter.

   Share prices have surged upward, supported by expectations of strong 
corporate profits, even as Americans say they're feeling more squeezed by high 
inflation.

   A preliminary report from the University of Michigan on Friday said that 
U.S. consumers are raising their own forecasts for how bad inflation will be 
over the coming year. They're expecting inflation of 4.7%, up from their 
forecast of 4.6% a month ago and just 3.4% in February before the war with Iran 
began. Sentiment among consumers is falling sharply for Americans with lower 
incomes and smaller investments in stocks, who can least afford the fast 
increases in the cost of living.

   The pressure is on companies to deliver strong growth in profits after their 
stock prices ran toward records despite the downward push from high bond yields.

   In Europe, Germany's DAX added 0.7% to 25,262.94 and the CAC 40 in Paris 
rose 0.3% to 7,822.73. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.7% to 10,623.84. Asian markets 
were mostly lower.

   Markets in Tokyo were closed for a holiday.

   In other dealings, the U.S. dollar climbed to 158.63 Japanese yen from 
158.23 yen. The euro was down to $1.1184 from $1.1191.