Oil records its first monthly gain: For the first time in months, we are witnessing a rise in oil prices due to tensions in the Red Sea.
US crude futures contracts recorded an increase of 1% during January.
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Oil records its first monthly gains
Canadian consumer prices provided a reading that reinforces the continued Canadian monetary tightening
Yesterday, Canadian consumer price data showed clear positivity,
contrary to expectations that indicated a provision of only 0.2%,
adding a further rise and presenting 0.3%, and as it is a higher reading than expectations,
it is also higher than the reading that preceded it, which was around 0.1%.
This reinforced the positive pricing of the Canadian dollar at that time,
as the receipt of data related to increases that may occur in Canadian inflation
may contribute to maintaining Canadian interest rates for an extended period.
It is worth noting that the return of Canadian inflation to the rise may support further monetary tightening by the Bank of Canada.
Oil records its first monthly gains in three months due to the Red Sea crisis
Oil prices witnessed their first monthly rise since September, due to the impact of attacks on ships in the Red Sea,
which changed tanker routes and escalated tensions in the Middle East. US crude futures rose approximately 6% during January,
despite falling at the end of the week.
Traders are awaiting President Joe Biden’s reaction to the attack attributed to Iranian-backed militants
that resulted in the killing of three American soldiers last week.
However, the conflict has not affected oil supplies so far, limiting the extent to which market prices can rise.
Although oil prices moved in a narrow range during January due to potential war fears,
they remained limited due to concerns about supply and demand. US production reached a new record high of 13.3 million barrels per day,
according to data released on Wednesday. Production increases from the Americas are expected to offset global demand growth this year,
according to the International Energy Agency.
In another context, US inventory data, released on Wednesday, showed mixed reports,
as inventories at the main storage centre in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell to the lowest level since November while witnessing fluctuations in demand for gasoline.
The US Federal Reserve ruled out a cut in March and awaits upcoming data
US Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell explained during the press conference following the monetary policy statement,
during which US monetary policymakers decided to hold the interest rate unchanged at around 5.5%,
the necessity of waiting for continued declines in US inflation before actually starting to reduce US interest rates,
as The situation is not clear for monetary policymakers and the biggest fear is that the strong labour market will add new inflationary pressures,
so there may not be enough time for the March meeting to evaluate the data, which may prolong the period of keeping rates unchanged
Oil records its first monthly gain: