Crude oil futures traded lower on Monday morning as the market is waiting for economic data from the major consumers such as the US and China during the week.
At 9.56 am on Monday, September Brent oil futures were at $77.97, down by 0.64 per cent; and August crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $73.35, down by 0.69 per cent.
July crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,061 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) in early trade against the previous close of ₹6,063, down by 0.03 per cent; and August futures were trading at ₹6,080 as against the previous close of ₹6,082, down by 0.03 per cent.
US, China indicators
Producer price index of China declined by 5.4 per cent in June against a decline of 4.6 per cent in May. June’s decline was more than the market expectation of a decline of 5 per cent. According to market reports, weakening demand in China and moderating commodity prices were the reasons for this decline.
The consumer price index data is expected from the US during the week.
As both US and China are the major consumers of crude oil in the global market, the economic indicators from these countries play a significant role in crude oil price movements.
However, Saudi Arabia’s recent decision to extend crude oil output reduction to August and Russia’s plans to reduce its exports limited further decline in the prices of the commodity. Saudi Arabia and Russia are the major suppliers of crude oil to the global market. Plans of these countries to control the supply of the commodity will help boost crude oil prices.
Natural gas, turmeric up
July natural gas futures were trading at ₹217.80 on MCX in the initial trading hour of Monday morning against the previous close of ₹211.70, up by 2.88 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), August turmeric (farmer polished) contracts were trading at ₹10,054 in initial trade against the previous close of ₹9742, up by 3.20 per cent.
July guargum futures were trading at ₹10500 on NCDEX against the previous close of ₹10385, up by 1.11 per cent.