On Thursday morning, the prices of benchmark oil grades continue to rise moderately after the growth in yesterday's session caused by the depreciation of the dollar. The current price of Brent oil is $80.39 per barrel. During the trading morning, the price rose to $80.59. The quotes of North American WTI oil are trading near $75.90 per barrel (the daily maximum is $76.12). The oil market was supported by a decline in the US dollar after the release of inflation data in the US. The growth rate of consumer prices in June slowed to 3% from 4% in May, updating the minimum since March 2021. Analysts on average expected a decline to 3.1%. As a result, the ICE index, reflecting the dynamics of the dollar against the six major world currencies, collapsed by 1.2%, updating the minimum for more than a year. Oil traders are watching for a decrease in inflationary pressure, as this may eliminate the need for further interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve. The termination of the monetary policy tightening cycle in the United States may lead to a depreciation of the dollar, which supports commodity prices. An additional positive factor for oil was a decrease in supply from Saudi Arabia and Russia, combined with an increase in demand expectations. The report of the US Department of Energy on crude oil reserves in the country could not affect the bullish trend either. According to recent data, reserves of raw materials rose sharply last week by almost 6 million barrels. Gasoline stocks remained virtually unchanged, while distillate stocks increased by 4.815 million barrels.
PAUTAN SEGERA