Oil prices settle down after data shows weaker US consumer sentiment
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[July 13, 2024] By
Nicole Jao
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil futures prices settled slightly lower on Friday
as investors weighed weaker U.S. consumer sentiment against mounting
hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut in September.
Brent crude futures settled 37 cents lower to $85.03 a barrel. U.S. West
Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 41 cents, or 0.5%, to close at
$82.21 a barrel.
For the week, Brent futures fell more than 1.7% after four weeks of
gains. WTI futures posted 1.1% weekly decline.
A monthly survey by the University of Michigan showed U.S. consumer
sentiment fell to an eight-month low in July, although inflation
expectations improved for the next year and beyond.
The U.S. Labor Department said the producer price index (PPI) rose 0.2%
in June, slightly more than expected, as the cost of services climbed.
Still, investors expect the Fed could start cutting rates in September.
"The market isn't afraid of the Fed at this point," said Phil Flynn, an
analyst at Price Futures Group.
Lower rates are expected to boost economic growth, which could boost
fuel consumption.
"Cooling U.S. inflation numbers may support the case for the Fed to
kick-start its policy easing process earlier rather than later," said
Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.
"It also adds to the series of downside surprises in U.S. economic data,
which points to a clear weakening of the U.S. economy," he added.
Oil prices have drawn some support from U.S. gasoline demand, which
government data showed on Wednesday was at 9.4 million barrels per day
(bpd) in the week ended July 5, the highest since 2019 for the week that
includes the Independence Day holiday. Jet fuel demand on a four-week
average basis was at its strongest since January 2020.
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An aerial view shows oil tanks of Transneft oil pipeline operator at
the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the
port city of Nakhodka, Russia June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File
Photo
The strong fuel demand encouraged U.S. refiners to ramp up activity
and draw from crude oil stockpiles. U.S. Gulf Coast refiners' net
input of crude rose last week to more than 9.4 million bpd for the
first time since January 2019, government data showed.
Signs of weaker demand from China, the world's biggest oil importer,
could counter the outlook from the United States and weigh on
prices.
"The recent downside correction is evidently over, although the
speed of further ascent might be hindered by falling Chinese crude
oil imports, which plummeted 11% in June from the previous year,"
said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.
U.S. active oil rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell
by one to 478 this week, the lowest since December 2021, energy
services firm Baker Hughes reported on Friday.
Money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and options
positions in the week to July 9, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao and Shariq Khan in New York, Paul Carsten
in London, Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru and Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore;
Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Susan Fenton, David Evans, Will
Dunham and David Gregorio)
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