The barrel price of Brent oil, which rose to $ 86.87 on Friday, closed the day at $ 86.31. As of 10.20 am today, the price of a barrel of Brent oil decreased by 0.07 percent to $ 86.25 compared to the closing date. In the same minutes, West Texas type (WTI) crude oil found buyers at $82.39 a barrel.
The partial decline in prices was driven by the US economy’s recession and oil demand concerns.
While US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials forecast a mild recession at the end of the year, concerns that the slowdown in economic growth will limit the recovery in oil demand are gaining ground in the markets.
Fed Chairman Chris Waller said on Friday that the Fed has not made much progress in reducing inflation based on available data, but the Federal Reserve’s work is not yet done.
The strengthening of the US dollar against other currencies also affected the price drop. The US dollar index rose 0.08 percent to 101.32 today.
People’s Bank of China interest rate decision to be announced this week
Positive economic data expected to come from China this week limits the decline.
China’s first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data, which will be released tomorrow, is expected to reveal results indicating that the economic recovery is gaining momentum as the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping set an annual growth target of 5 percent. This week’s GDP figures will provide an early indication of whether the country’s economy will be able to achieve that goal.
Data on the People’s Bank of China’s interest rate decision, industrial production and retail sales will also be released this week.
This week’s data is expected to greatly influence expectations that the recovery in China will push oil demand to record levels this year.
It is stated that technically, the range of 86.38 to 86.60 dollars in Brent oil can be followed as a resistance and the range of 86.16 to 85.94 dollars as a support zone.
