Investors Having Second Thoughts on Oil

Crude prices were on the decline Friday as investors took a breather on concerns that speculation pushing oil to an 11-week high was too ambitious. Positive earnings news in the US and demand in China has seen oil gain nearly 4 percent this week alone.

“We are now at the upper end of the trading range and should come off, unless something unexpected happens,” said Carsten Fritsch, a Commerzbank AG analyst in Frankfurt. “Fundamentals still look pretty poor and don’t justify prices close to $80.”

Crude for September delivery dropped as much as 51 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $78.79 a barrel, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $78.85 at 1:04 p.m. in London. Yesterday, the contract rose as high as $79.42, the highest price since May 5, as stock markets advanced.

Source: Bloomberg

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.