Oil jumps again on dollar crash, OPEC grandstanding of demand
Investing.com — With U.S. inflation data and rate hike concerns baked into the cake, OPEC did a grandstanding Thursday on its demand forecast for the current year and next to show all was hunky and dory with the oil market.
The result was another rally in both U.S. crude and global benchmark Brent pricing, even as some traders deliberated about other matters that barely make it into the conversation on oil these days: creeping production from Iran and Iraq, while headlines about proclaimed output cuts by the Saudis and Russians continue to saturate the airwaves.
New York-based West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, crude settled up $1.14, or 1.5%, at $76.89 per barrel. The U.S. crude benchmark is up 4% on the week, extending last week’s 4.6% rally and the prior week’s run-up of 2.1%.
London-based Brent finished the New York trading session up $1.25, or 1.6%, at $81.36, after a three-month high at $81.42. For the week, Brent is up 3.7% after last week’s 4.8% rally and the prior week’s 1.4% gain.
The rally is “primarily on the back of the extension to the Saudi one-million-barrel cut to the end of August, alongside Russia's 500,000 barrel export reduction,” said Craig Erlam, analyst at online trading platform OANDA.
“Some profit-taking at these levels wouldn't be hugely surprising and may have come sooner if not for the U.S. CPI data.”
The softest U.S. inflation growth in more than two years reflected by Wednesday's Consumer Price Index report for June has eased much of risk markets’ fears about an aggressive Federal Reserve and hammered the dollar to 15-month lows, delivering a boon to oil and other commodities priced in the currency.
Notwithstanding that, China’s weaker-than-expected economy since the start of the year
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