Crude Futures were seen trading mixed on Wednesday, as market participants awaits news from the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting later in the day with predictions of a further reduction to the central bank’s monthly bond purchases.
The North American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery came in 0.10% lower, trading at $97.32 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at the time of writing. On Tuesday, the contract rose $1.69 to $97.41, the highest since Dec 31.
At the same time, Brent crude for March settlement climbed 0.08%, at $107.50 per barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark was at a premium of $10.36 to WTI.
Crude – US Fuel Supplies
On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reports showed a rise in oil inventories by 4.7 million barrels in the week ending January 24, beating analysts forecast of 2.3 barrels.
The reports from API also revealed US distillate supplies; including heating oil and diesel, dropped by 1.79 million barrels in the previous week, while gasoline inventories added 363,000 barrels.
As the market awaits reports from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) later in the day, investors are expecting to see a rise in supplies by 2.25 million.
Crude – Federal Reserve Meeting
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) are meeting up later today to continue the two-day policy meeting.
Market analysts are predicting members of the Federal Open Market Committee will continue to reduce its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion at every meeting to end the stimulus program by this year, despite the recent disappointing non-farm payrolls data for the previous month.
In the last fed-meeting, the central bank decided to reduce its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion to $75 billion a month. Minutes for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting will be released on Wednesday.
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