© Archyde.com. An oil field in Texas in a photo from Archyde.com archive.
(Archyde.com) – They fell more than $2 a barrel on Friday amid general turmoil in global markets on fears of an imminent recession following central banks across Europe and North America signaled they would continue to vigorously fight inflation.
Crude futures fell $2.17, or 2.4 percent, to reach 79.04 a barrel at settlement, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.82, or 2.4 percent, to $74.29 a barrel.
The Federal Reserve (the US central bank) has signaled that it will continue to raise interest rates next year, even as the economy slides into a potential recession. The Bank of England and the European Central Bank raised interest rates on Thursday to combat inflation.
The two benchmarks ended the week’s trading on the rise, supported by their rise in the first three days of it. Brent crude futures posted their biggest weekly gain since early October, but those gains came following posting their biggest weekly loss since August.
(Prepared by Mahmoud Abdel-Gawad for the Arabic Bulletin)
