Crude oil prices increase in early trade

8 May 2023 , 09:03 AM

Early Asian trading on Monday saw a tiny increase in oil prices as concerns about a U.S. recession that had driven prices down for three straight weeks for the first time since November started to fade.

Brent crude futures were up 6 cents at $75.36 a barrel. WTI crude oil futures for the United States were up 8 cents at $71.42.

Despite a remarkable recovery on Friday, which saw the benchmarks recoup roughly 4% each, concerns that the U.S. banking crisis could slow the economy and reduce fuel consumption in the world’s largest oil-consuming country drove the Brent benchmark down 5.3% and WTI down 7.1% last week.

The decline in prices has been halted by a positive U.S. jobs report for April, a declining dollar, and expectations of supply cuts at the upcoming OPEC+ meeting in June, bringing OPEC and its allies together.

On Wednesday, the United States is anticipated to release data on consumer price inflation for April, which could offer additional hints about interest rate changes amid widespread anticipation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will suspend rate hikes.

Two reports on U.S. credit conditions and loan demand are also important and will be scrutinized more closely than usual in light of the recent stress on the local banking system.

As market participants continue to assess the economic recovery in the second-largest consumer of oil in the world, traders will also be closely monitoring Chinese economic indicators this week, including trade, inflation, lending, and money supply figures for April.

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