Oil steady on jobs data

Oil prices steadied on Thursday, having hit their lowest since late 2021 earlier this week, as strong US jobs data countered bearish signals from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, highlighting banking sector risks and swelling US crude stockpiles.

Brent crude futures were up 1 cent, or 0.01%, at $76.70 a barrel at 1324 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 4 cents, or 0.1%, to $70.94, making good on some deeper losses earlier in the session.

Powell said on Wednesday that banking industry stress could trigger a credit crunch, with “significant” implications for an economy that US central bank officials projected will slow even more this year than previously thought.

The Bank of England on Thursday followed the Federal Reserve and the Swiss National Bank in hiking interest rates.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2023.

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