Commodity Highlight: Oil Extends Losses to New Week, WTI Futures Slip Below $80 – Investing NewsEverything

By Malvika Gurung

Investing.com — Oil prices extended the steep losses witnessed last week to Monday, trading at their weakest levels in two months as rising Covid-19 cases in China spurred concerts over curtailing demand in the world’s largest oil importer, while prospects of rising interest rates dampened the demand outlook.

At the time of writing, traded 0.96% lower at 86.78/barrel and declined 0.8% to 79.47/barrel. The contracts fell to $86.59 and $79.33, respectively earlier in the session. 

Oil prices continued to fall for the second time in a row last week, with the oil benchmarks Brent and WTI Futures plummeting 9% and 10%, respectively and closing at their lowest levels since Sept 27, on Friday. 

They entered the ‘contango’ mode last week, signalling a further decline in prices.

As per reports, tight crude supplies in Europe have stabilized as refiners steadily stacked up stocks ahead of an official European Union on Russian crude exports on Dec 5, exerting pressure on crude markets going ahead if inventories deplete at levels faster than anticipated.

Hawkish comments from Fed officials rose concerts about aggressive rate tightening as Fed strives to arrest inflation under its annual target range. This dented oil prices. 

The US Fed will release for the October meeting on Wednesday, giving more indications on the path of US monetary policy.