© Archyde.com. A pump works inside an oil field near the French capital, Paris, in a photo from Archyde.com archive.
NEW YORK (Archyde.com) – It plunged more than 4 percent at the end of trading on Tuesday, to its lowest level in three months, following the inflation report in the United States and the recent collapse of two American banks raised fears of a new financial crisis that might reduce demand for oil in the world. the future.
Crude futures fell 3.32, or 4.1 percent, to settle at $77.45 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell $3.47, or 4.6 percent, to settle at $71.33.
It was the lowest closing level for both benchmarks since Dec. 9 and the biggest one-day percentage drop since early January.
The collapse of Silicon Valley and then Signature Bank sent bank stocks lower as investors worried regarding the financial health of some banks.
Meanwhile, the consumer price index in the United States rose strongly in February, as Americans faced a continuous rise in rent and food costs, which posed a dilemma for the Federal Reserve (the central bank), whose battle once morest inflation was complicated by the collapse of the two banks.
The data showed the index rising 0.4 percent in February from 0.5 percent in January.
The US central bank is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by just a quarter of a percentage point next week, down from the 50 basis points previously expected, and to make another increase of the same size in May. The next meeting of the Bank begins next Tuesday and lasts for two days.
The US Central Bank is resorting to raising interest rates in order to curb inflation. But these higher rates increase consumer borrowing costs, which might slow the economy and reduce demand for oil.
(Reporting by Mahmoud Abdel-Gawad, Marwa Gharib and Ali Khafagy for the Arabic Bulletin – Edited by Yasmine Hussein)
