On Thursday (January 19), international oil prices fell by nearly $1, extending the previous session’s losses, as a surprise rise in U.S. crude inventories weighed on the market, while disappointing U.S. retail sales and industrial data heightened concerns about the economy. recession fears. NYMEX crude oil looked at $77.55.
At 16:29 Beijing time, NYMEX crude oil futures fell 1.22% to $78.51 a barrel; ICE Brent crude futures fell 0.99% to $84.41 a barrel.
Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets, said: “Deteriorating U.S. economic data dimmed the outlook for (oil) demand as recession fears intensified again. Risk aversion led to a drop in growth-sensitive commodity prices.” He added that bulls Profit-taking may also have played a role.
U.S. retail sales fell by the most in a year in December, while manufacturing output fell by the most in nearly two years as higher borrowing costs hurt demand for goods. Still, Fed officials say rates need to rise above 5% even if inflation shows signs of peaking and economic activity is slowing.
Data released overnight by the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 7.615 million barrels in the week ended January 13, the second consecutive week of sharp increases. This is all the more worrisome because the market had expected a decline of about 593,000 barrels.
Since this Monday coincides with the Martin Luther King Day public holiday in the United States, the weekly oil inventory report was delayed by one day. The official Energy Information Administration (EIA) inventory report will be released at midnight Beijing time on Friday (January 20).
On the daily chart, NYMEX crude oil has fallen below $78.76 and is expected to fall further to $77.55 in the market outlook. They are the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement and 50% Fibonacci retracement of the upward range of $72.46-82.66 respectively bit.