The price of Texas intermediate oil (WTI) opened this Tuesday with a slight increase of 0.15%, to $82.75 a barrel, influenced by the decision of the Israeli prime minister –Benjamin Netanyahu– to attack the Palestinian enclave of Rafah “with or without agreement” between the parties.
At 9:00 a.m. local time (1:00 p.m. GMT), WTI futures contracts for delivery in June rose $0.05 compared to the close of the previous session.
Netanyahu pledged on Tuesday to launch a raid on Rafah, a city south of Gaza where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain refugees, just hours before the arrival of the US Secretary of State. Antony Blinkento Israel to advance negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages captured by Hamas.
“Prices rebounded late last week as geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East led some traders to buy futures contracts to hedge bets against energy in the event of unforeseen escalations between Israel and Hamas or Iran during the weekend”indicates Tom Essaye today in his report The Sevens Report.
Elsewhere, investors’ eyes this week are on the Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate decision due on Wednesday.
“Trader positioning should keep markets relatively calm today as the Federal Reserve decision looms tomorrow, but if any of the data turns out to be ‘too hot’ or ‘too cold’, let’s consider a spike in volatility.” , adds Essaye.
US inflation data further dimmed prospects for near-term interest rate cuts and boosted the dollar, hurting oil demand. EFE (I)
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