Oil extended its first weekly gain since early July, with traders continuing to monitor Iran’s response to last month’s assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran, as well as developments in wider markets.

Brent edged above $80 a barrel after rising almost 4% last week, while West Texas Intermediate topped $77. Tehran reiterated Sunday its determination to punish Israel for killing Hamas’ political chief, as Iranian state media reported that a missile unit of the country’s military was conducting exercises near the Iraqi border.

Crude has tracked a rebound in equity markets since sinking to a seven-month low early last week.

“Geopolitical premia built on the expectations of Iranian reprisal on Israel can only carry the price so far,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, group head of research at Onyx Capital Group. “The market needs more hard economic data to hang its hat on and stabilize.”

Traders will be looking to market reports this week for more clarity on supply and demand balances - with monthly outlooks due from OPEC on Monday and the International Energy Agency on Tuesday - as well as US inflation data on Wednesday.

Those reports follow a week in which there were large reductions in positioning figures across the market. Money managers hold the fewest net-bullish wagers in ICE Brent since the data was first published in 2011, while they also hold net-bearish wagers across the diesel market.

  - Bloomberg