A stronger dollar made crude oil futures trade lower on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the latest GDP numbers from China showed growth in Q4 of 2023.
At 9.50 am on Wednesday, March Brent oil futures were at $77.75, down by 0.69 per cent, and March crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $71.92, down by 0.83 per cent.
January crude oil futures were trading at ₹5975 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during initial trading against the previous close of ₹6003, down by 0.47 per cent, and February futures were trading at ₹6019 as against the previous close of ₹6037, down by 0.30 per cent.
Lower-than-expected
The US dollar reached a near one-month high following the comments of the US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller that the Fed may not cut rates as aggressively as the market expects. A stronger dollar makes crude oil expensive for those holding other currencies.
Meanwhile, China’s GDP (gross domestic product) witnessed a 5.2 per cent growth in the fourth quarter of 2023 against 4.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. However, the market was expecting the growth to be around 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023.
For the entire 2023, the GDP growth was at 5.2 per cent, beating the Chinese government’s target of 5 per cent for the year. This growth of 5.2 per cent was due to various policy measures by the Chinese government and a lower base for comparison. In 2022, the Chinese economy grew by around 3 per cent. China is a major consumer of crude oil in the global market.
Turmeric gleams, cottonseed oil cake slips
January natural gas futures were trading at ₹234.10 on MCX against the previous close of ₹243.70, down by 3.94 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), April turmeric (farmer polished) contracts were trading at ₹13,940 against the previous close of ₹13,896, up by 0.32 per cent.
February cottonseed oilcake futures were trading at ₹2,694 on NCDEX in the initial trading hour of Wednesday morning against the previous close of ₹2,700, down by 0.22 per cent.