|
Brent crude futures fell $1.64, or 2%, to $79.13 a barrel by
1001 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI)
dropped $1.74, or 2.3%, to $73.06 a barrel. On Monday, Brent and
WTI fell to their lowest since early January and December,
respectively.
Oil prices dropped alongside a continued slide in equities
markets.
"We see Monday’s developments around the regional U.S. banks as
more noise than news for commodity markets, and it should not
have any meaningful medium- to longer-term impact," said UBS
analyst Carsten Menke.
The sudden shutdown of SVB Financial triggered concerns about
risks to other banks resulting from the U.S. Federal Reserve's
sharp interest rate hikes over the last year.
Traders now no longer expect a 50-basis points (bps) rate hike
next week, with a current projection of a 25 bps rise, even
ahead of the release of U.S. consumer price data on Tuesday.
A lower rate rise could mean the dollar weakening which in turn
is a bullish signal for oil prices.
Economists surveyed by Reuters forecast consumer prices
increased by 0.4% in February, which would lower the
year-on-year increase in the CPI to 6.0% in February and mark
the smallest year-on-year rise since September 2021.
A stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation outcome could
put further downward pressure on oil prices.
Meanwhile, consumer inflation in China, the world's biggest oil
importer, slowed to the lowest rate in a year in February.
The monthly oil market report by the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is due later on Tuesday
ahead of one prepared by the International Energy Agency (IEA)
on Wednesday. [IEA/S]
On the supply side, the American Petroleum Institute is expected
to release industry data on U.S. oil inventories at 1630 ET/2030
GMT.
Six analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude
inventories rose by about 600,000 barrels last week.
(Additional reporting by Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by
Christina Fincher)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
