Oil futures climbed Wednesday, with U.S. prices settling at their highest so far this year. Crude oil has been supported by the surprise OPEC+ decision to cut production, as well as by “ongoing weakness in U.S. dollar, optimism about Chinese pent-up demand, and the recent upsurge in other commodity prices like gold and silver,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at StoneX. The weaker U.S. consumer price index print Wednesday raised doubts over whether the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates at all next month, he said. Falling interest rate expectations are “reducing recession concerns and helping to support buck-denominated asset prices,” said Razaqzada. May West Texas Intermediate crude CLK23 rose $1.73, or 2.1%, to settle at $83.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the highest front-month contract finish since Nov. 16, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
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