Oil prices drop over $1, settle lower on volatile session after US macro data, FOMC policy decision; Brent at $76/bbl
₹5,953 per bbl, having swung between ₹5,839 and ₹6,004 per bbl during the session, against a previous close of ₹6,017 per barrel. -Traders took note of comments from New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams about hopes for interest rate cuts in the coming year. "We aren't really talking about rate cuts right now," Williams said in an interview with CNBC.
When it comes to the question of lowering rates, "I just think it's just premature to be even thinking about that" at this point, he said. -On Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said interest rate hikes intended to curb inflation were likely at an end, but left open the possibility for further increases. The Fed kept interest rates unchanged at a 22-year high mark for the third straight meeting in 2023.
-The dollar fell to a four-month low on Thursday after the central bank after Powell's comments, seeing signs lower borrowing costs are coming in 2024. The dollar index was broadly steady on Friday. A weaker dollar makes dollar-denominated oil cheaper for foreign buyers.
-World oil consumption will rise by 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, the International Energy Agency said in a monthly report. While that is a 130,000-bpd increase from its previous forecast, the estimate is less than half of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) demand forecast of 2.25 million bpd. -OPEC and its allies including Russia (OPEC+) agreed to a combined 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in output cuts for the first quarter of next year.
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