Oil prices rose 2 percent on Wednesday, after the slowdown in inflation in the United States boosted hopes that the US Federal Reserve is close to ending the cycle of raising interest rates and mitigated the impact of a slight rise in US crude oil inventories.
And the US Department of Labor announced that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.1 percent last month, after rising 0.4 percent in February.
In the twelve months to March 31, the index increased by five percent, the smallest year-on-year rise since May 2021.
The consumer price index rose 6 percent year-on-year in February.
price movements
Brent crude rose by $1.79, or 2.1 percent, to $87.40 a barrel by 17:00 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate crude rose by $1.92, or 2.3 percent, to $83.43.
Prices rose by about 2 percent on Tuesday.
The markets showed little reaction to the slight increase in US crude oil inventories, and attributed the matter to reasons including the release, approved by Congress, of quantities of emergency reserves and the decline in exports at the beginning of the month.
Crude oil inventories rose by 597 thousand barrels last week to 470.5 million barrels, compared to analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll, for a decline of 600 thousand barrels.
US gasoline stocks fell by 300,000 barrels, and distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 0.6 million barrels, less than analysts’ expectations for each.
