Oil prices closed slightly higher Thursday in a volatile session after falling a dollar a barrel in early trade on demand concerns and dollar strength, but later recovered after reports of lower diesel stocks in Europe.
Prices began to recover in mid-New York after data released by Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed that diesel inventories held in separate storage at the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refinery and storage hub fell 3 percent last week.
Brent crude was up 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $83.36 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $79.05 a barrel. Prices were lower for most of the session before rising in the last half hour of trading.
Giovanni Stonovo, an analyst at UBS Bank, suggested that declining stocks of refined products in Europe and a two-year decline in U.S. Treasury yields were responsible for the rise in oil prices, signaling the possibility of further volatility for investors. Clarify the Fed’s upcoming moves on interest.
Federal Reserve officials and policymakers from the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan meet in Jackson Hole on Friday, and raising interest rates over the longer term is likely to dominate discussions, even as inflationary pressures ease.
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