The World crude oil prices moved in a narrow range in early week trading (12/December) as they were influenced by various sentiments. When this news was writig, Brent oil was down by 0.18 percent at $76.49 a barrel.
Elsewhere, the WTI crude was up 0.13% at $71.56 a barrel. The strengthening of United States crude was due to the news of the closure of the Keystone oil pipelin.
That is a supply line from Alberta, Canada, to the US midwest and west coast refiners. The closure followed a pipeline leak that forced local authorities to halt operations.
Oil supplies in the America's domestic market are feared to be depressed given that the pipeline flows about 622,000 barrels per day, (bph). It is also considered As an important channel of US oil distribution.
China Continues to Loosen It’s Zero Covid Policy
Meanwhile, China, which is the world's largest oil importer, continues to relax its Zero-COVID policy. Before, it had triggered mass action some time ago and increased the tension in that country.
Although restrictions have been lifted gradually, a number of streets and business centers in the capital Beijing are still quiet. This signals economic activity that has not really returned and indicates a slowdown.
In a statement late last week. President Vladimir Putin said that Russia could cut production massively in retaliation for Western sanctions that blockaded and restricted Russian oil prices.
Putin also added that it plans to reject oil sales to countries that support sanctions for him. That made the market was shaking and various uncertainties appear.
Those Uncertainties make Oil Volatility High
The uncertainty arising from this conflict keeps oil volatility high. However, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister said the impact of European sanctions and Russian oil price restrictions has not been seen, nor has its implementation unclear.
A similar overview was also expressed by ANZ analysts. They said that EU sanctions have so far had only a limited impact on global markets.
The Oil prices are moving higher due to the closure of the Keystone pipeline, emerging fears Russia will reduce production, and the easing of China's COVID cases in recent days.
This was said by Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. He then gave an advice that market participants still need to prepare for any possibilities which may happen in the future.
Elsewhere, Gold’s Price Declined
Gold prices fell below $1790 per troy ounce after the United States Producer Price Index (PPI) data released on Friday. The producer price index rose by 0.3 percent on a monthly basis.
That result was better than expectations of falling to 0.2%. Furthermore, the US CPI data to be released on Tuesday will be the last high impact before the Fed announces its latest monetary policy.
The America's central bank is predicted to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 50 basis points. The attention of market participants will also be on the European Central Bank (ECB).
People will also watch the Bank of England (BoE), and the Swiss National Bank (SNB). Both are scheduled to announce monetary policy this week.
Gold Extends It’s Neutral Bias
Gold prices are particularly sensitive to the central bank's interest rate outlook. That is as higher rates could increase the opportunity cost of gold investment and reduce its attractiveness.
The precious metal recorded a decline in trading on Monday (12/December) yesterday. This safe haven asset stopped the uptrend because investors were looking forward to a series of important catalysts to be released this week.
As a result, gold moved erratically while extending the neutral bias. Meanwhile, The Australian Dollar currency pair against the Canadian Dollar (AUD/CAD) over the past few weeks has been bullish.
The price moved from Support level 2 (0.88668), until it broke out of Support 1 (0.90044), and Resistance 1 (0.91375). However, the price strengthening in the H4 timeframe was restrained by Resistance level 2.
