Oil on track for weekly gains ahead of OPEC's meeting
Oil prices rose in European trade, maintaining gains for the fourth straight session, almost hitting two-week highs and on track for the first weekly profit in a month as US crude stocks tumble.
Prices were also boosted by a steep drop in dollar's valuation against a basket of rivals, making commodity prices cheaper to holders of other currencies.
Traders await OPEC+ meeting on Sunday amid speculation about the third production cut in a row to support collapsing prices.
Global Prices
US crude rose 0.75% to $82.04 a barrel, while Brent added 0.8% to $87.65 a barrel, with a session-low at $86.19.
US crude rose 1.1% on Thursday, the third profit in a row, hitting two-week highs at $83.32, while Brent climbed 0.4% to $89.33 a barrel, the highest since November 22.
Global Oil prices are up 6% on average this week on track for the first weekly profit in a month and the largest since October.
US Stocks
The Energy Information Administration reported a drop of 12.6 million barrels in US crude stocks to 419.1 million barrels last week, while analysts expected a drop of 3.2 million barrels.
Gasoline stocks rose 2.8 million barrels to 213.8 million barrels, as distillate stocks rose 3.5 million barrels to 112.6 million barrels.
Dollar
The dollar index fell over 0.4% today on track for the third straight loss, plumbing six-month lows at 104.50 against a basket of major rivals.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the pace of rate hikes will be slowed down starting from the December meeting as the bank rebalances its risks.
However he cautioned that monetary policies will remain tight for the time being until inflation is brought back to normality.
OPEC+
OPEC+ countries are expected to convene soon in December, with analysts estimating that weaker demand from China could nudge OPEC+ to cut output once more.
On other news, initial US data on crude inventories will be released today, expected to show a drawdown for the third week in a row, while tomorrow, official data will be released.
Dollar plumbs six-month low ahead of US payrolls data
Dollar fell in European trade for the third straight session against a basket of major rivals, plumbing six-month lows and on track for second weekly losses, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony, which bolstered the case for a 0.5% rate hike in December.
Investors await important official US payrolls data later today for November, which will provide fresh clues on growth.
The Index
The dollar index fell over 0.4% to 104.37, the lowest since June, with a session-high at 104.87, after closing down 1.1% yesterday, the second loss in a row, and the largest since November 11.
The dollar index is down 1.6% so far this week, on track for the second weekly loss in a row.
Powell
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the pace of rate hikes will be slowed down starting from the December meeting as the bank rebalances its risks.
However he cautioned that monetary policies will remain tight for the time being until inflation is brought back to normality.
Following the remarks, markets now put an 80% chance of a 0.5% rate hike by the Fed in December, and a 20% only for a 0.75% rate hike.
Data
Now investors await for important US data on the labor sector to gauge the performance of the economy in this quarter.
US non-farm payrolls are expected up 200 thousand in November, down from 261 thousand in October, while unemployment are expected at 3.7% with no change.
