Oil prices fell on Tuesday over economic recession fears ahead of an expected interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve (Fed), putting a hold on hopes for an imminent economic recovery.
International benchmark Brent crude traded at $87.94 per barrel at 10.26 a.m. local time (0726 GMT), a 0.28% decrease from the closing price of $88.19 a barrel in the previous trading session.
The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $81.52 per barrel at the same time, a 0.12% loss after the previous session closed at $81.62 a barrel.
Amid comments by Fed policymakers signaling an interest rate over 5%, both benchmarks posted slight decrease over weak demand concerns in the US, the world’s largest oil consuming country.
The market expectation is a policy rate by 25 basis points during Fed’s meeting on Feb. 1.
Meanwhile, hopes for a strong demand in China support upward price movements as country expects about 2.1 billion domestic journeys to be made over a 40-day travel season that includes the weeklong Lunar New Year holidays started on Jan. 21.
However, such a massive influx of people also sparks fears that number of cases would rise again to provoke China’s strict “zero Covid policy”.
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr
