September 19, 2024 10:31 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
'Bengal floods man-made disaster': Mamata Banerjee takes stock of situation | Centre introduces new biometric programme for seamless immigration at Delhi airport in seconds | India reports second Mpox case with Kerala man testing positive for virus after return from UAE | PM Modi to visit US for Quad Summit, attend UN Assembly starting Sept 21 | Sovereign Gold Bonds available for early redemption on September 17
Oil rises nearly 2% amid hurricane disruptions and US Fed rate cut hopes; brent crude Hits $73.01/barrel
Crude Oil
Representational image by Maria Lupan on Unsplash

Oil rises nearly 2% amid hurricane disruptions and US Fed rate cut hopes; brent crude Hits $73.01/barrel

| @indiablooms | 17 Sep 2024, 02:58 pm

New York/IBNS: Oil prices surged by nearly 2 percent on Monday (Sept. 16), buoyed by continued disruptions to U.S. Gulf Coast oil production, despite ongoing concerns about demand stemming from weak economic data from China.

Investors are also anticipating a potential interest rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve later this week.

As of 1315 GMT, Brent crude futures for November delivery rose by $1.40, or 1.96 percent, to settle at $73.01 per barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for October delivery increased by $1.60, or 2.33 percent, reaching $70.25 per barrel.

Reuters reported, quoting Phillip Nova analyst Priyanka Sachdeva, that the market is likely to remain cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday.

Supply concerns, particularly due to some production remaining offline in the Gulf of Mexico, are providing additional support to oil prices, Sachdeva told Reuters.

Market participants are increasingly expecting a 50 basis point interest rate cut by the Fed, as indicated by the CME FedWatch tool, which tracks federal fund futures.

Typically, lower interest rates reduce borrowing costs, potentially boosting economic activity and increasing oil demand.

However, a 50 basis point rate cut could also signal weakness in the U.S. economy, which might dampen future oil demand, noted Kelvin Wong, a market analyst at OANDA, speaking to Reuters.

On the demand side, China's industrial output growth, the world's largest oil importer, slowed to a five-month low in August.

Additionally, retail sales and new home prices fell, while refinery output dropped for the fifth consecutive month due to weak fuel demand and shrinking export margins.

While both Brent and WTI crude prices rose by around 1 percent last week, they remain well below their average levels from August, which stood at $78.88 and $75.43 per barrel, respectively.

Early-month concerns over demand significantly influenced this decline, as per reports.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.