Brent crude futures traded below $74 a barrel on Wednesday morning. Factors such as the outcome of the US Federal Reserve meeting later in the day, and the reports on the increase in the crude oil supplies from various sources also impacted the price of the energy commodity.
At 9.51 am on Wednesday, February Brent oil futures were at $72.98, down by 0.35 per cent, and January crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $68.34, down by 0.39 per cent.
December crude oil futures were trading at ₹5707 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during initial trading against the previous close of ₹5717, down by 0.17 per cent, and January futures were trading at ₹5758 as against the previous close of ₹5765, down by 0.12 per cent.
US CPI data shows uptick
Market is expecting that the US Federal Reserve is likely to keep the interest rates unchanged when it announces the outcome of the meeting later in the day. However, the point to be taken into consideration is Fed’s outlook for 2024 with regard to interest rate cuts, if any.
Meanwhile, the US consumer price index inflation data showed a slight uptick in November when compared to October.
The short-term energy outlook report by the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) forecasted an increase crude oil production to 12.93 million barrels a day in 2023 against 11.91 million barrels a day in 2022. For 2024, US EIA is forecasting the US crude oil production to be at 13.11 million barrels a day.
Market reports also noted an increase in the weekly average sea-borne crude oil exports from Russia, and a growth in Brazil’s crude oil output in third quarter of this year.
Jeera, guar gum gain
December natural gas futures were trading at ₹188.60 on MCX against the previous close of ₹196, down by 3.78 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), December guar gum contracts were trading at ₹10,990 against the previous close of ₹10,753, up by 2.20 per cent.
January jeera futures were trading at ₹37,160 on NCDEX in the initial trading hour of Wednesday morning against the previous close of ₹36,445, up by 1.96 per cent.