Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
Crude oil, during Asian trade hours, moved higher. The black gold was buoyed by a surprise reduction with U.S. crude inventories. There is also broad dollar weakness. This makes oil less expensive to buy in global markets. It also, potentially, spurs demand.
As of 12:30 am GMT, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $65.39 a barrel. This was up 22 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their close seen yesterday.
Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, were trading at $69.65 per barrel. This was up 18 cents, or 0.3 percent, during Asian trade hours this morning.
Both benchmarks are currently trading just below their highest price points seen since early February. They are now up about ten percent from March lows.
Traders are saying that there is some support from currency markets. The U.S. dollar lost ground after the Federal Reserve kept to its view of three rate increases for 2018. They did raise rates by 25 basis points, as was expected.
Crude Oil Traders watch Inventory Data
Looking at U.S. inventory data, released yesterday, inventories fell 2.6 million barrels during the week that concluded March 16. They fell to 428.31 million barrels. This is according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). It was released late on Wednesday.
Oil prices has been supported, as well, by supply restraint from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Also non-members led by Russia, which began back in 2017. This scheme is expected to last through 2018.
The bullish mood is being tempered by soaring U.S. crude production. This has climbed to a new record of 10.4 million barrels per day, as of last week. This puts the United States ahead of Saudi Arabia and within reach of Russia’s 11 million barrels per day.
