Crude oil futures traded lower on Wednesday morning as the market is cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, which is expected later in the day.
At 9.51 a.m. on Wednesday, November Brent oil futures were at $93.33, down by 1.07 per cent, and November crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $89.60, down by 0.97 per cent.
October crude oil futures were trading at ₹7,454 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during initial trading against the previous close of ₹7,546, down by 1.22 per cent, and November futures were trading at ₹7,361 against the previous close of ₹7,462, down by 1.35 per cent.
Sentiments hit
The two-day meeting of the US Federal Reserve will be concluded later on Wednesday. Market players are expecting that the Fed would keep interest rates on hold.
However, the resurgence of inflation in the US in the last two months has impacted the sentiments. According to analysts, any hawkish signals from the Fed would impact commodities such as crude oil. Such signals could boost the dollar making the crude costlier in the international market.
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Meanwhile, the data released by the industry body American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a decline in the crude oil inventories in the US. According to API, US witnessed a decline of 5.25 million barrels of crude oil inventories for the week ending September 15, indicating a tight market in the US. However, the official data from the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) is expected later in the day.
Turmeric down, dhania gains
Quoting unnamed sources, a Reuters report said the Russian government is planning to impose export duties of $250 a tonne on oil products from October 1 to June 2024 to tackle fuel shortages. Such a move could further impact the supply of crude oil to the world market as Russia is a major producer of the commodity in the world.
October natural gas futures were trading at ₹248.20 on MCX in the initial trading hour of Wednesday morning against the previous close of ₹253.80, down by 2.21 per cent.
On NCDEX, turmeric October contracts declined by ₹82 to ₹15,540 a quintal, while dhania (coriander) November futures gained ₹42 at ₹7,350 a quintal.