Oil climbs as dollar slumps, OPEC+ keeps output cut policy
Shafaq News / Oil prices rebounded on Thursday after tumbling in the previous session as a weaker dollar brought back some appetite for risk assets and the OPEC+ decision to roll over an output cut helped ease oversupply concerns.
Brent crude futures rose 65 cents, or 0.8%, at $83.49 a barrel as of 0353 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude futures advanced 71 cents, or 0.9%, to $77.12 a barrel.
Both benchmarks plunged more than 3% overnight after U.S. government data showed big builds in crude and oil products inventory.
The Federal Reserve raised its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday, yet continued to promise "ongoing increases" in borrowing costs as part of its ongoing battle against inflation.
"Those hawkish reaffirmations from the Fed were met with rising doubts from the markets, which saw a dovish takeaway from Jerome Powell's acknowledgement of progress in the 'disinflationary process' and that he is not worried about loosening financial conditions," said Yeap Jun Rong, Market Analyst at IG, in a note.
"Inflation has eased somewhat but remains elevated," the U.S. central bank said in a statement that marked an explicit acknowledgement of the progress made in lowering the pace of price increases from the 40-year highs hit last year.
The U.S. dollar index dived to a fresh nine-month low on Thursday in reaction to the softer rate hike bets. A weaker greenback makes dollar-priced oil less expensive for holders of other currencies, boosting demand.
(Reuters)
