With the market awaiting US Fed Chair Jerome Powell to testify before US Congress on the recent monetary policy, crude oil futures traded higher on Wednesday morning.
At 9.54 am on Wednesday, August Brent oil futures were at $76.23, up by 0.43 per cent, and August crude oil futures on WTI were at $71.58, up by 0.55 per cent.
July crude oil futures were trading at ₹5,888 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during initial trading against the previous close of ₹5,821, up by 1.15 per cent; and August futures were trading at ₹5,908 against the previous close of ₹5,850, up by 0.99 per cent.
Impact of rate hike
The US Fed Chair will testify on the economic outlook and recent monetary policy actions before the Joint Economic Committee. The Fed had paused the interest rate hike last week. However, the policy had indicated two more rate hikes during the year.
The market is expecting some hints on future rate hikes from Powell’s testimony on Wednesday. Interest rate hikes make the commodity costlier impacting the demand for crude oil in the market. US consumes a significant proportion of total global crude oil production.
The market is also expecting Wednesday’s weekly crude oil inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute. US EIA (Energy Information Administration) will come out with the official petroleum status report on Thursday. These data will give an idea about the demand for petroleum fuels in the US market.
However, some market reports noted that there will be reduction in crude oil inventories for the week ending June 16.
Castorseed, mentha oil turn cool
June mentha oil futures were trading at ₹896.50 on MCX against the previous close of ₹904.60, down by 0.90 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), July cottonseed oilcake contracts were trading at ₹2,568 against the previous close of ₹2,590, down by 0.85 per cent.
July castorseed futures were trading at ₹5,775 on NCDEX in the initial trading hour of Wednesday morning against the previous close of ₹5,805, down by 0.52 per cent.