Oil prices slipped on Thursday after a surge in the previous session on a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. gasoline stocks, as markets weighed macroeconomic concerns against firm near-term demand.
Brent futures fell 5 cents to $70.9 a barrel by 0426 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures shed 10 cents to $67.58 a barrel.
Both benchmarks rallied about 2% on Wednesday as U.S. government data showed tighter-than-expected oil and fuel inventories.
U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 5.7 million barrels, more than the 1.9 million-barrel draw expected by analysts, while distillate stocks also dropped more than anticipated - despite gains in crude stocks. [EIA/S]
"Declining U.S. gasoline inventories raised expectations for a seasonal demand increase in spring, but concerns about the global economic impact of tariff wars weighed on the market," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist of Nissan (OTC:NSANY) Securities Investment.
"With strong and weak factors progressing simultaneously, it has become difficult for the market to lean decisively in one direction or the other," he added.
Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to escalate a global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods, as major U.S. trading partners said they would retaliate for trade barriers already erected by the U.S. president.
Trump's hyper-focus on tariffs has rattled investors, consumers and business confidence and raised U.S. recession fears.
Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Wednesday that Kazakhstan led a sizeable jump in February crude output by the wider OPEC+, highlighting a challenge for the producer group in enforcing adherence to agreed output targets.
Source: Investing.com
Crude futures recover more of last week's losses as continued fighting between Russia and Ukraine keep alive expectations of greater U.S. sanctions and supply disruptions. An Israeli air strike targe...
Oil jumped after an Israeli attack in Qatar escalated the conflict in the Middle East, the source of about a third of the world's supplies, increasing the geopolitical risk premium for crude. We...
Oil prices continued their rally on Tuesday (September 9), driven by the latest smaller-than-anticipated increase in OPEC+ oil production, expectations that China will continue to hoard oil, and conce...
Oil prices continued their rally on Tuesday (September 9), driven by the latest smaller-than-anticipated increase in OPEC+ oil production, expectations that China will continue to hoard oil, and conce...
Oil steadied as investors weighed the prospect for softening demand after Saudi Arabia cut pricing for most of its grades. West Texas Intermediate traded above $62 a barrel after climbing 0.6% i...
Crude futures recover more of last week's losses as continued fighting between Russia and Ukraine keep alive expectations of greater U.S. sanctions and supply disruptions. An Israeli air strike targeting the Hamas leadership in Qatar also raises...
A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar rose late in New York trading alongside Treasury yields as investors look to the release of CPI data this week to gauge the Fed's rate-cutting path. Earlier, the yen rallied on a report that Bank of Japan...
Gold prices advanced to a record high on Tuesday amid rising optimism that the Federal Reserve is set to kick off what will likely be a series of interest rate reductions. Gold futures rose 0.2% to $3,683.70 per ounce, having traded above $3,700...
The United States (US) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will publish the 2025 preliminary benchmark revision to the Establishment Survey Data on...
Russian forces attacked a thermal power plant in the Kyiv region as part of an overnight attack, Ukraine's Energy Ministry said on Monday,...
Wall Street kicked off the week with gains on Monday as investors positioned ahead of a data-heavy week that includes two key inflation reports...
European shares finished higher on Monday, while French stocks also rose as investors stayed calm in the run-up to a no-confidence vote later in the...