Oil extends longest run of losses this year ahead of Fed minutes

Bloomberg

Oil extended its longest run of losses this year ahead of the release of Federal Reserve minutes that may provide further clues on the path forward for monetary tightening in the US.
West Texas Intermediate traded near $76 a barrel after declining for a fifth session. The prospect of more aggressive interest-rate hikes from the Fed to quell inflation has kept a lid on prices, despite increasing evidence of a robust recovery in China following the end of Covid Zero rules.
In the Brent market, the nearest time-spread fell sharply on Wednesday. That’s a tentative sign of a softer market, though traders often pare back positions in the days before
expiry, due next week.
Oil’s lackluster start to the year has dented early optimism that resurgent Chinese demand would buoy prices. Morgan Stanley on Wednesday became the latest bank to trim forecasts, arguing that the market will be oversupplied in the first quarter and balanced in the second, before edging into a deficit in the second half.
Crude has been trapped in a $10-a-barrel range as China’s rebound from virus curbs is countered by jitters over a possible US slowdown. Renewed supply disruption in Kazakhstan on Wednesday failed to move the needle.
“Growth concerns dominate, with fears of an ongoing hawkish Fed to slow down US inflation,” said Giovanni Staunovo, a commodity analyst at UBS Group AG.