Oil prices fluctuate softly after long New Year's weekend
Tuesday morning’s oil prices hold more or less steady after resumed trading after the New Year’s weekend.
Investors are showing some hesitation while assessing global recession risk, China’s fight with Covid-19, and the potential disruption of Russian crude supply.
A barrel of European reference oil Brent sells for USD 86.13 Tuesday morning CET against USD 85.90 Monday afternoon. US counterpart West Texas Intermediate trades concurrently for USD 80.53, showing little price deviation from closing hours Monday afternoon.
“After their strong finish before the extended holiday break, oil futures may start the new year on a flat-to-slightly-weaker note,” notes John Driscoll, director of JTD Energy Services Pte, in a comment to Bloomberg News:
“Virus infections continue to surge in China and threaten to spread with the rollback of anti-Covid travel restrictions. There are also growing expectations of a global recession.”
Monday, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgiev projected that a third of the global economy will enter recession this year, with the three largest markets – the US, Europe and China – all losing steam in parallel.
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