Oil Trades Mixed After China Posts Weakest Economic Growth In Half A Century

Oil prices were mixed on Tuesday following China recording its weakest economic growth in about half a century, while reversal from its zero-COVID policy late last year kept hopes of recovery alive.

Brent crude futures were trading higher by 0.38% at $84.78, recouping some of the loss from the previous session. However, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 0.48%, to $79.48, at the time of writing.

Read Next: How To Invest In Oil

The United States Brent Oil Fund BNO closed 1.74% higher on Friday while the Vanguard Energy Index Fund ETF VDE closed 0.18% higher.

China's gross domestic product grew by 3% in 2022, missing the official target of "around 5.5%" and recording the second-worst performance since 1976, according to Reuters. 

Despite the poor numbers, economic data still beat analysts' prior forecasts as China’s rollback of its zero-COVID policy in December boosted consumption.

“Brent crude has gained nearly 10% over the past 10 days as optimism over China’s reopening boosted sentiment. However, the outlook for the rest of the global economy is uncertain,” analysts at ANZ Research wrote in a note.

They further said that investors are wary of upcoming sanctions on Russian oil products. “From 5 February, the European Union and G7 will attempt to cap the price of Russia’s fuel exports. It will have to replace about 600kb/d of diesel imports,” the analysts noted.

Read Next: Palantir CEO Expects To Hire Hundreds More — Says Only Disaster 'We Did Not Predict' Was...

 

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Posted In: NewsCommoditiesMarketsMediaChinaCovid-19Crude Oil
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!