Commodities and Futures News

Oil prices inch lower ahead of Fed meeting, soft Chinese economic data weighs

2024.12.16 21:38

Oil prices inch lower ahead of Fed meeting, soft Chinese economic data weighs

Investing.com– Oil prices were marginally lower in early Asian trade on Tuesday, a day after soft economic readings from China dampened sentiment, while traders were cautious ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting later this week.

At 20:41 ET (01:42 GMT),  inched 0.2% lower to $73.81 a barrel, while  ticked 0.1% down to $70.20 a barrel.

Both contracts, expiring in February, retreated on Monday as weak Chinese data spurred concerns over slower demand.

Weak Chinese data clouds demand outlook

China released key economic indicators for November on Monday, revealing a mixed economic landscape. 

increased as expected, slightly surpassing October’s growth and indicating modest industrial sector improvement. 

However, growth decelerated sharply in November, undershooting expectations and highlighting persistent weaknesses in consumer spending. 

Moreover, declined by 5.7% year-over-year in November, following a 5.9% drop in October, highlighting ongoing challenges in the real estate sector.

These indicators raise concerns for the oil market, as China is the world’s largest crude importer. The slowdown in retail sales reflects fragile domestic demand, potentially dampening energy consumption. Additionally, the modest increase in industrial output suggests that manufacturing activities are not robust enough to significantly boost oil demand. 

Beijing had also provided middling cues on fresh stimulus measures last week.

Markets cautiously await Fed rate decision

Markets were largely cautious before a this week, where the central bank is widely expected to trim rates by 25 basis points but also flag a slower pace of cuts for 2025.

The prospect of lower interest rates typically supports economic growth, potentially boosting oil demand. However, uncertainties surrounding the Fed’s future policy direction have introduced a degree of market hesitation. 

This cautious sentiment is also contributing to the current softness in oil prices, as traders await clearer signals from the central bank’s upcoming meeting.

After hefty gains last week, oil prices have remained under pressure this week. The potential for tighter oil markets in the face of stricter U.S. sanctions on Russia, and expectations of new stimulus measures from China had provided support to the oil prices last week.



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 96,088.74 0.42%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,780.44 0.76%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.55 0.10%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.01%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 651.28 2.71%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 163.69 4.28%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.00%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.236831 3.24%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.760126 1.56%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,778.31 1.12%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.244774 2.55%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 96,045.73 0.35%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,330.76 0.87%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.37 1.81%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.37 1.72%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 24.49 5.03%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.328656 0.88%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 127.50 1.18%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.76 0.37%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.76 0.50%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000015 2.35%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.208812 2.68%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.08%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 8.37 2.31%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,777.94 0.80%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 22.78 6.61%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.88 3.71%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 323.51 0.05%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 5.04 0.33%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.05%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,947.95 0.92%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 8.88 1.47%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 236.78 0.88%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 3.37 2.75%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 27.55 0.24%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000009 3.47%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 244.09 1.12%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 423.55 3.73%
ondo-finance
Ondo (ONDO) $ 1.11 3.41%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 5.95 1.43%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999876 0.02%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 6.99 2.74%
official-trump
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 15.86 3.47%
tokenize-xchange
Tokenize Xchange (TKX) $ 38.98 2.46%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 20.37 0.79%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.903049 1.28%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 49.02 0.87%
gatechain-token
Gate (GT) $ 23.34 0.74%
susds
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.04 0.09%
sonic-3
Sonic (prev. FTM) (S) $ 0.878261 7.24%