Prices of some Crude grades have remained weak, slightly above $70 per barrel despite US FED interest rate cuts and the heightened Middle East tension between Israel and Hezbollah.
Checks by NewsNGR show that Brent Crude fell by 1.22 per cent to trade at $73.58 per barrel as of 18:04 (GMT) time on Monday, however, Brent price was up by 1.22 per cent to $74.80 per barrel by 7:30 a.m. (GMT) on Tuesday.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also fell by 1.41 per cent to $69.99 per barrel as of 18:12 p.m. (GMT) on Monday.
But WTI price recovered by 1.41 per cent to $71.36 as at 7:30 a.m. (GMT) on Tuesday.
The price fall fluctuations defied experts’ prediction that interest rate cuts would foster expectations of stronger future demand.
“In the oil market, the softer monetary policy outlook has fostered expectations of stronger future demand, supporting a more likely bullish outlook for crude prices further out,” SEB analyst Ole Hvalbye said in a shared note.
Last Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate by half a percentage point to the 4.75 percent to 5 percent range “in light of the progress on inflation and the balance of risks”
The rate had been between the 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent range since July 2023.
The prices may also be influenced by the recent tension between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
Israel carried out what it described as a “limited” airstrike in Dahieh, the southern suburbs of Beirut, with Israeli media reporting that the target of the strike was Ali Karaki, who is the number three military commander in Hezbollah.
Over 270 were killed and over 1,000 injured after Israel carried out a punishing aerial assault on wide swathes of south Lebanon and the Beqaa valley.