Oil Ends Week Higher as Investors Take Stock of Fed Rate Cuts
Oil prices settled lower on Friday but recorded a second straight week of gains, garnering support from a U.S. interest rate cut and a dip in U.S. supply.
Brent futures settled down 39 cents, or 0.52%, at $74.49 a barrel. U.S. WTI crude futures settled down 3 cents, or 0.4%, to $71.92.
Signs of a slowing economy in major commodity consumer China gave prices a ceiling. But for the week, both benchmarks settled up more than 4%.
Prices have recovered after Brent fell below $69 for the first time in nearly three years on Sept. 10.
Prices rose more than 1% on Thursday, a day after the U.S. central bank's decision to cut interest rates by half a percentage point.
Interest rate cuts typically boost economic activity and energy demand, but some analysts are worried about weakness in the U.S. labour market.
The Fed projected a further 50 basis points of rate cuts by the end of this year, a full percentage point of cuts next year and a further half-percentage-point reduction in 2026.
Source : Reuters
