Crude oil futures traded lower on Monday morning as some officials of the US Federal Reserve stressed the need for patience towards interest rate cuts following the recent economic indicators in that country.
Trading volumes also remained thin on Monday following the holiday in the US markets.
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At 9.52 am on Monday, April Brent oil futures were at $82.89, down by 0.69 per cent, and April crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $77.86, down by 0.76 per cent.
March crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,472 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during initial trading against the previous close of ₹6,482, down by 0.15 per cent, and April futures were trading at ₹6,470 against the previous close of ₹6,482, down by 0.19 per cent.
‘Resist temptation’
Addressing economists in Washington on Friday, Mary Daly, President of San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, said there is still work to do on inflation.
Quoting Daly, a Reuters report said: “We will need to resist the temptation to act quickly when patience is needed and be prepared to respond agilely as the economy evolves.”
Stressing the need to patient when it comes to interest rate cuts, the President of Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, Raphael Bostic, told CNBC there is still work to do in controlling inflation.
The recent economic indicators from the US dashed the hopes of an early interest rate cut in that country. These data points indicated stronger than expected inflation and weakening spending in US. Higher interest rates will impact the commodities such as crude oil.
Meanwhile, continued tensions in the Middle East region supported the price of the commodity on Monday morning.
Turmeric gleams, castorseed slips
February natural gas futures were trading at ₹129.70 on MCX against the previous close of ₹133.30, down by 2.70 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), February castorseed contracts were trading at ₹5,730 against the previous close of ₹5869, down by 2.37 per cent.
April turmeric (farmer polished) futures were trading at ₹15,034 on NCDEX against the previous close of ₹15,190, down by 1.03 per cent.