Crude oil futures traded lower on Tuesday morning on continued fears over the banking crisis in the US and Europe.
At 9.56 am on Tuesday, May Brent oil futures were at $73.09, down by 0.95 per cent, and May crude oil futures on WTI were at $67.20, down by 0.91 per cent.
April crude oil futures were trading at ₹5,584 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) in initial trade against the previous close of ₹5,532, up by 0.94 per cent, and May futures were trading at ₹5,622 against the previous close of ₹5,569, up by 0.95 per cent.
The recent failure of Silicon Valley Bank in the US led to a series of crises in the banking sector in the US. Apart from this, problems with Credit Suisse in Switzerland made UBS announce its takeover.
Explained: How will the Credit Suisse crisis impact India?
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Fears over impact
Though the regulators in the US and Europe initiated measures to tide over the banking crisis in these economies, there is still apprehension in the market over the impact of the crisis on the economy and on the demand for commodities such as crude oil.
In the face of the banking crisis in the US and Europe, the market is waiting for the outcome of the meeting of the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
To control the high inflation in the US, the market is expecting the US Fed Reserve to increase the interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday despite the crisis in the US banking system.
Explained: Why the fall of Silicon Valley Bank matters to India
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However, strong demand prospects for crude oil from China limited the fall in the price of the commodity.
Mentha oil, jeera, dhania turn cool
March mentha oil futures were trading at ₹987.90 on MCX in the initial trading hour of Tuesday morning against the previous close of ₹993.60, down by 0.57 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), April jeera contracts were trading at ₹32,970 in early trade against the previous close of ₹33,310, down by 1.02 per cent.
April dhaniya futures were trading at ₹6,954 on NCDEX against the previous close of ₹7,156, down by 2.82 per cent.