Published: 2/5/2024 5:08 AM ET |
Oil traded slightly lower on Monday, following its biggest weekly drop since October.
Brent crude futures dipped 0.3 percent to $77.12 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were down 0.4 percent at $72.03.
A stronger dollar kept prices under pressure as traders scaled back their expectations for rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year.
West Texas Intermediate contracts slumped more than 7 percent last week on the back of robust U.S. employment data, worries about China’s economic recovery and disappointment over OPEC+ group’s decision to leave its production policy unchanged.
Geopolitical tensions remained on investors’ radar after the U.S. and U.K. conducted strikes against Houthi targets over the weekend and the Iran-backed Houthis vowed to respond, saying the air strikes “will not deter us.”
The dollar hit a two-month high after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in an interview on Sunday that policymakers will likely wait beyond March to cut interest rates.
It is feared that higher interest rates to tackle inflation could result in a slowdown in economic activity and a drop in demand for oil.
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