West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude closed higher on Friday, advancing for a second day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is ready to begin cutting interest rates.
WTI crude for October delivery closed up US$1.82 to settle at US$74.83 per barrel, while October Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up US$1.85 to US$79.07.
In a speech to the central bank's annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference, Powell said the central bank is ready to begin lowering interest rates from their current 23-year high as the labor market slows.
Despite Friday's gains, the odds prices will again test this year's highs are seen as slim because demand in China, the No.1 importer, remains subdued as the country's economy stumbles. At the same time, the risks of a wider Middle Eastern war that could threaten Persian Gulf supplies fade.
Expectations OPEC will begin returning 2.2-million barrels per day of voluntary cuts to the market in the fourth quarter are also keeping a lid on prices.
Source : MT Newswires
