WTI Crude Oil : trading stabilized around $72 per barrel on Friday, but were still set to end the week sharply lower as renewed recession fears gripped financial markets, overshadowing optimism around China’s loosening Covid curbs and persistent supply-side concerns.
The US oil benchmark is down nearly 10% so far this week, having been pressured throughout the period by economic fears as a chorus of top executives in the US sounded the alarm on a potential recession next year.
Tightening financial conditions also weighed on markets, with the US Federal Reserve expected to raise interest rates further and keep them higher for longer. Meanwhile, investors cheered easing Covid restrictions in China that sparked hopes of a wider economic reopening that could boost demand in the world’s top crude importer.
The shutdown of the Keystone pipeline also added to the highly uncertain supply outlook, with investors still assessing the impact of the latest sanctions on Russian oil.
