“Oil prices fell on Tuesday, December 17, amid Chinese economic data that raised concerns about demand, while investors remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.”, — write: epravda.com.ua
Oil prices fell on Tuesday, December 17, amid Chinese economic data that raised concerns about demand, while investors remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. This is reported by Reuters. Brent crude fell 6 cents to $73.85 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 11 cents to $70.60 a barrel. “Prices were weighed down by profit-taking after last week’s 6% gain and a series of disappointing data on the Chinese economy,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore.Advertisement: Prices fell from multi-week highs on Monday due to unexpectedly weak data on consumer spending in China, despite on the growth of industrial production, as well as due to the fact that investors switched to a holding pattern before the Fed meeting. The Fed will hold its last policy meeting of the year on Tuesday and Wednesday, where it is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. “The 25 basis point cut has already been factored in by the market, so any surprises (from the Fed meeting) could move the market,” said An Pham, an analyst at LSEG.Advertisement: Lower interest rates could boost economic growth and oil demand. The outlook for oil next year is clouded by rising supplies from non-OPEC+ countries such as the US and Brazil and a slowdown in demand, mainly from China. The International Energy Agency said in its monthly report last week that even though the OPEC+ group of producers continues to cut output, there will be a supply surplus of 950,000 barrels next year. barrels per day – almost 1% of world supplies. On Monday, the European Commission announced a 15th package of EU sanctions against Russia over its incursion into Ukraine, including tougher measures against Chinese entities and more vessels from Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet,” which are not regulated or insured by conventional Western suppliers. A group of Western countries will begin checking the insurance documents of Russia’s shadow fleet of vessels in the English Channel, the Danish Straits, the Gulf of Finland and the strait between Sweden and Denmark.