Oil falls ahead of US Fed meeting

ANKARA

Oil prices fell on Tuesday ahead of a key Federal Reserve meeting as concerns over a feared banking crisis linger.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $73.01 per barrel at 10.33 a.m. local time (0733GMT), a 1.06% decrease from the closing price of $73.79 a barrel in the previous trading session.

At the same time, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $67.09 per barrel, a 1.08% fall after the previous session closed at $67.82 a barrel.

Although fears of economic recession dominated the market after consecutive failures in the US and EU banking sectors, both benchmarks showed a recovery from 15-month lows on Monday following regulators’ moves to shore up confidence.

However, prices declined on Tuesday as investors are now awaiting the next moves of the US Fed after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank earlier this month.

The Fed will kick off its two-day meeting on Tuesday before announcing its interest rate decision on Wednesday.

Markets are pricing in a potential hike of 25 basis points, while investors expect the Fed to keep tackling high inflation as a main priority despite pressure on the banking system.

In its toughest monetary tightening in decades, which included four consecutive rate increases of 75 basis points, the US central bank made a total of 425-point rate hikes on seven occasions last year to fight record-high inflation that climbed to its highest level in over 40 years by mid-2022.

• Brent crude
• Oil Prices
• WTI