Oil prices rise on falling US dollar
Shafaq News/ Oil prices recovered on Tuesday, erasing overnight losses, as investors moved into risk assets and away from the safe-haven U.S. dollar which tumbled to multi-year lows, Reuters reported.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures climbed 49 cents, or 1.1%, to $45.77 a barrel at 0406 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 37 cents, or 0.9%, to $42.98 a barrel.
Both benchmark contracts fell around 1% on Monday on worries about oil oversupply, with global demand stuck below pre-COVID levels.
The US dollar was last down 0.04% at 92.146 against a basket of currencies, after hitting its lowest since May 2018 in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy shift on inflation announced last week.
The weakening U.S. dollar makes oil and other commodities priced in dollars more attractive to global buyers.
Overall, the market remains focused on the stalled recovery in fuel demand as countries continue to battle the coronavirus pandemic with rolling COVID-19 lockdowns, analysts said.
Ahead of the release of U.S. stockpile data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group, a Reuters poll found analysts expect U.S. crude stocks fell by about 2 million barrels in the week to Aug. 28.
Gasoline inventories are seen falling by 3.6 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, are expected to drop by 1.5 million barrels, six analysts polled by Reuters estimated.
