Oil prices edged lower from a two-week high in Asian trading on Wednesday after industry data showed a sharp increase in U.S. crude inventories, while investors remained cautious awaiting more trade tariff announcements by President Donald Trump.
As of 21:44 ET (01:44 GMT), Brent Oil Futures expiring in September fell 0.3% to $69.91 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 0.4% to $68.10 per barrel.
Both contracts climbed to a two-week high on Tuesday, driven by supply disruption concerns from fresh Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes.
A Reuters report on Tuesday stated that four crew members aboard the Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C were killed in a drone and speedboat assault off the coast of Yemen.
US crude stocks jumped last week
The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a sharp, unexpected rise in US crude oil inventories for the week ending July 4, with a build of 7.1 million barrels, far exceeding the forecasted 2.8 million‑barrel draw.
This comes after the previous week saw just a modest 0.68 million‑barrel increase.
Gasoline inventories fell by 2.2 million barrels, while distillate stocks declined by 800,000 barrels.
The latest data pointed to weakening demand and potential oversupply challenges in the US market.
Market watchers now await confirmation from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) report, due later in the day. If EIA mirrors the API trend, it would be the largest increase since January.
Trump to impose 50% tariff on copper imports
President Trump said on Tuesday that he would impose a 50% tariff on imported copper and would soon roll out long-promised duties on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
A day earlier, he started sending tariff letters, where he notified 14 countries that sharply higher tariffs would take effect on August 1.
The tariff letters outlined a 25% levy on all goods from Japan and South Korea, while some nations face up to 40% tariffs.
Late Tuesday, Trump wrote on social media, "We will be releasing a minimum of 7 Countries having to do with trade, tomorrow morning, with an additional number of Countries being released in the afternoon."
He provided no further details, while investors turned cautious in anticipation of a new wave of tariffs.
Source: Investing.com
Oil held a decline after the International Energy Agency projected an even bigger surplus next year, with the bearish outlook offsetting concerns about geopolitical tensions from the Middle East ...
Oil prices slid about 2% on Thursday on concerns over softening U.S. demand and broad oversupply that offset threats to output from the conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine. Brent crude...
Oil prices fell on Thursday (September 11), pressured by concerns over weakening US demand and a widespread oversupply, offsetting the threat to production from conflicts in the Middle East and Russia...
Oil prices held steady on Thursday (September 11th) as concerns over weakening US demand and the risk of a wider oversupply were offset by concerns over attacks in the Middle East and Russia's war in ...
Global oil prices stabilized after three consecutive days of gains. The market weighed US President Donald Trump's latest comments on Russia and the possibility of punitive measures for the war in Ukr...
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.7% to around 44,700 and the Topix gained 0.5% to 3,165 on Friday, with Japanese equities hitting fresh record highs in step with Wall Street's overnight rally. On Thursday, all three major US benchmarks closed at all-time...
The Gold price (XAU/USD) edges lower to around $3,630 during the early Asian session on Friday. The precious metal retreats from a record high on some profit-taking. Nonetheless, the rising bets of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut in the...
Silver remains high at $41/oz after US data (benign CPI, rising jobless claims) strengthened the case for a 25 bps Fed rate cut next week—weakening the dollar and supporting the precious metal. The industrial demand environment (particularly...
The Federal Reserve is likely to start a series of interest-rate cuts next week and keep going through the end of the year, traders bet on Wednesday...
Producer inflation in the United States, as measured by the change in the Producer Price Index (PPI), fell to 2.6% annually in August from 3.3% in...
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday that the preliminary estimate of the Current Employment Statistics (CES) national benchmark...
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said the Federal Reserve has scope to lower interest rates because of the weakening U.S. labor market,...