Oil Rises on Demand Optimism
WTI crude futures rose above $74 per barrel on Monday, rebounding further from three-week lows, underpinned by hopes of further demand recovery in China and the prospect of a less aggressive monetary tightening from the Federal Reserve. Guo Shuqing, party secretary of the People’s Bank of China, said on Sunday that China’s economic growth will quickly rebound and return to its “normal†path as the government provides more financial support to households and private companies to help them recover from the Covid-induced slump.
In the US, a slowdown in wage growth and a surprise contraction in services activity tempered expectations that the Fed will continue to hike rates aggressively, adding to the bullish case for oil.