Oil prices ease on concerns over rate hikes, China gloom
Oil prices eased in early trade on Wednesday, weighed down by fears U.S. interest rates could stay higher for longer and economic growth could slow further in top crude importer China and hurt fuel demand.
Brent crude dipped 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $83.86 a barrel by 0031 GMT while U.S.
West Texas Intermediate crude was at $79.56 a barrel, down 8 cents, or 0.1%.
Both benchmarks lost about 0.5% on Tuesday.
Markets are awaiting hints on the outlook for interest rates from policy makers when Federal Reserve officials and policy makers from the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan head to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for their annual central bank conference later this week.
«Investors are reluctant to take big positions ahead of the Jackson Hole Symposium later this week as they want to find clues for the next step by the U.S. Federal Reserve,» said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities.
«Concerns over higher interest rates and sluggish demand in China are expected to outweigh tightening supply from OPEC+ in the short term,» he said.
China, the world's second-largest economy, is considered crucial to shoring up oil demand over the rest of the year.
