Oil Prices Rise; Growth Concerns Limit Gains
Investing.com - Oil prices rose on Tuesday in Asia, but gains were limited as traders remain concerned over the outlook for global economic growth.
U.S. crude oil WTI futures rose 0.7% to $59.25, while international Brent oil futures inched up 0.2% to $66.94.
On Friday, spreads between U.S. three-month and 10-year Treasury yields modestly inverted for the first time since 2007. The inversion appeared after weak factory data from the United States, Europe and Japan.
The news sent global stocks and other risky assets lower, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunging more than 3% on Monday.
Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said he understands why the markets become nervous when the yield curve flattens, but believes the U.S. economic growth outlook is still positive.
Despite Monday’s pessimism, WTI was on track to end March up more than 3%, while Brent showed a gain of over 1%. Year to date, the U.S crude benchmark has a 29% gain, while its U.K. peer is up almost 24%.
Oil prices rallied since the beginning of 2019, helped by OPEC production cuts and a virtual halt in Venezuelan crude exports to the U.S.
Huge back-to-back declines of nearly 14 million barrels in U.S. crude stocks over the past two weeks have also provided the oil markets a big sentiment boost.
Looking ahead, traders await weekly data on U.S. crude inventories from the American Petroleum Institute that is due later in the day, followed by U.S. Energy Information Administration figures on Wednesday.
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