Singapore — Oil prices jumped more than 1% on Friday, pushed up by Saudi plans for the production cuts led by Opec and Russia that were introduced in 2017 to be extended into 2019 in order to tighten the market. The rise in oil prices defied global stock markets, which slumped due to concern about a trade stand-off between the US and China. But gold, seen as a safe-haven in times of economic turmoil, rallied to a two-week high on Friday. US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Thursday that could impose tariffs on up to $60bn of imports from China, while China unveiled plans on Friday to impose tariffs on up to $3bn of US imports. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.99 a barrel at 4.05am GMT, up 69c, or 1.1%, from their previous close. Brent crude futures were at $69.54 a barrel, up 63c, or 0.9%. For the week, Brent was set for a gain of about 5%, its strongest showing since July last year, while WTI was up about 4.3%. The driver for crude futures was...
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