Oil rises ahead of US Central Bank meeting, Middle East ‎tensions continue

Oil prices rose in early Asian trading today, Wednesday, ahead of meetings of major global central banks this week, including the US Federal Reserve, while the market closely monitors developments in the conflict between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

By 0330 GMT, Brent crude futures for January delivery rose 0.3%, or 28 cents, to $85.30 per barrel, after falling more than 1% on Tuesday. Brent crude futures for December fell by four cents to settle at $87.41 per barrel with the expiration of the contract on Tuesday.

According to Reuters, US West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased 0.2 percent, or 16 cents, to $81.02 per barrel, after losing about 1.6 percent in the previous session.

“Crude prices are stabilizing ahead of… the interest rate decision from the Federal Open Market Committee,” said Edward Moya, chief market analyst at OANDA, which is the committee that determines the direction of US monetary policy.

He added, “Geopolitical risks remain and this appears to offset some of the impact of record production levels coming from the United States.”

Market sources, citing figures from the American Petroleum Institute, reported on Tuesday that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by about 1.3 million barrels last week, while fuel inventories decreased by about 360,000 barrels, and distillate inventories decreased by about 2.5 million barrels.

Raising interest rates with the aim of curbing inflation could slow economic growth and reduce demand for oil, while lowering interest rates to stimulate spending may lead to increased oil consumption.

According to a poll conducted by the CME FeedWatch tool, the US Federal Reserve, which will conclude its meeting today, Wednesday, is expected to keep interest rates steady.

In Europe, inflation in the euro zone in October reached the lowest level in two years, falling to 2.9% from 4.3% in September, according to a preliminary reading by the European Union Statistics Office (Eurostat), which led to expectations that the European Central Bank would not raise prices. Benefit soon

The Bank of England will meet on Thursday.

A special survey showed on Wednesday that factory activity in China contracted unexpectedly in October, after pessimistic official figures issued the previous day, raising questions about the fragile economic recovery at the beginning of the fourth quarter. China is the largest importer of oil in the world.