June 22, 2023 (MLN): Oil prices were mixed on Thursday after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said that policymakers expect interest rates to move higher yesterday.
Meanwhile, traders awaited official U.S. inventory data following an industry report that showed an unexpected draw in crude stocks.
Brent crude is currently trading at $76.86 per barrel, up by 0.03% on the day.
While West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) is trading at $72.3 per barrel, up by 0.01% on the day.
“Earlier in the process, speed was very important,” Powell said Wednesday in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, referring to the pace at which officials lifted rates over the past year. “It is not very important now.”
The Federal Open Market Committee paused its series of interest-rate hikes last week for the first time in 15 months, leaving rates in a range of 5% to 5.25%.
But Fed officials estimated rates would rise to 5.6% by the end of the year, according to their median projection, implying two additional quarter-point hikes following surprisingly persistent inflation and labor-market strength.
The benchmarks had gained a dollar a barrel in the previous session as U.S. corn and soybean prices raced to multi-month highs, raising expectations that crop shortfalls around the globe could lower biofuels blending and increase oil demand, as Reuters reported.
Oil prices held on to most of the previous session's gains as the market kept a lookout for fresh drivers, including signs of Chinese demand optimism and the latest U.S. inventory data.
Meanwhile, official inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due later on Thursday. The report was delayed by a day following the Juneteenth public holiday on Monday.
In a preliminary indicator, data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, showed U.S. crude oil inventories fell by about 1.2 million barrels in the week ended June 16, defying analysts' forecasts for a build of 300,000 barrels.
Copyright Mettis Link News
Posted on: 2023-06-22T11:49:57+05:00
