Worse-than-expected US employment news and an increase in crude inventories conspired to push oil prices lower in European trading. By early afternoon in London, benchmark crude for November delivery was down 55 cents to $74.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had lost 26 cents to settle at $74.71 on Wednesday.
“Gasoline demand especially remains a concern for the market, as it is only slightly up on last year’s low level, at 8.8 million barrels a day,” said a report from Commerzbank in Frankfurt. “The slower pace of the U.S. economy in the second half of the year makes a marked recovery of (gasoline demand), by far most important demand component in the U.S., less likely.”
Source: Associated Press
Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.