Oil prices edge down as expectations mount for delay in US interest rate cut

March 07, 2024 (MLN): Global oil prices edged lower on Thursday despite optimistic Chinese trade data as the market weighed on expectations of delay in U.S. interest rate cuts.

Brent crude traded near $82.51 per barrel, down by 0.07% on the day.

While West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was at $78.51 per barrel, down by 0.04% on the day.

"China's trade balance data is a positive sign for the oil market’s demand outlook," Auckland-based independent analyst Tina Teng said, as Reuters reported.

However, she added that risk-off sentiment dominated financial markets as stocks are retreating on Wall Street.

The world's top crude importer posted a 5.1% rise in imports in the first two months of 2024 from a year earlier to about 10.74 million barrels per day (bpd), customs data showed on Thursday, as refiners ramped up crude purchases to meet fuel sales during the Lunar New Year holiday.

China's January-February refined products exports dropped 30.6% on year to 8.82 million tons, reducing supplies for global markets.

Upbeat trade data from China, the world's second-biggest economy, suggests global trade is turning a corner in an encouraging signal for policymakers as they try to shore up a stuttering economic recovery.

Brent and WTI edged up about 1% on Wednesday after crude inventories rose for a sixth week in a row, building by 1.4 million barrels.

Gasoline and distillate stocks fell more than expected, the EIA data also showed.

A strong U.S. dollar will maintain the status quo in the near term, as markets brace for a risk the U.S. Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut gets delayed to the second half of this year, according to a Reuters poll of foreign exchange strategists.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said continued progress on inflation "is not assured", though the U.S. central bank still expects to reduce its benchmark interest rate this year.

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