Connect with us
Finance Digest is a leading online platform for finance and business news, providing insights on banking, finance, technology, investing,trading, insurance, fintech, and more. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

INVESTING

By Shadia Nasralla

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices ticked up on Friday with U.S. inflation data showing some signs of slowing price rises, but on the month oil was on course for its weakest performance since November.

Brent futures, which have risen nearly 6% this week, were up 22 cents or 0.3% at $79.49 a barrel by 1309 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude was up 45 cents or 0.6% to $74.82, having gained about 8% so far this week.

But the contracts were set for 5% and 3% monthly drops respectively after hitting their lowest since 2021 earlier in the month in the wake of large bank failures.

Oil prices have broadly recouped these losses as worries about a global banking crisis have abated after banks in the U.S. and Europe were rescued.

The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 0.3% in February on a monthly basis, compared with a 0.6% rise in January and an expectation of a 0.4% rise in a Reuters poll.

On an annual basis the gauge stood at 4.6%, below an expected 4.7%. While the inflation data showed signs of cooling, it remained elevated, which could lead to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates one more time this year.

Oil prices were buoyed after producers shut in or reduced output at several oilfields in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq following a halt to the northern export pipeline.

Also sending a bullish signal was data showing U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell to a two-year low. [EIA/S]

Prices have also found support from a rise in China’s manufacturing activity in March.

With oil prices recovering from recent lows, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia are likely to stick to their existing output deal at a meeting on Monday, sources said.

OPEC pumped 28.90 million barrels per day (bpd) this month, a Reuters survey found, down 70,000 bpd from February. Output is down more than 700,000 bpd from September.

(Additional reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan and Andrew Hayley; Editing by Mark Potter, Jason Neely and Jan Harvey)

 

Continue Reading

Why pay for news and opinions when you can get them for free?

       Subscribe for free now!


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Recent Posts