After the massive sell-off on Thursday, oil prices fell again early as a bearish sentiment continued its hold on the market.
As of 09:47 EDT on Friday, WTI crude prices fell 0.83 percent to $ 59.53, and Brent Crude dropped 1.09 percent to $ 62.63 as short-term concerns soared. demand for oil prevailed.
On Thursday, oil prices fell by 9 percent at one point before Brent fell 7 percent on the day.
“From a fundamental perspective, there was little behind yesterday’s move. The market is becoming increasingly nervous in some European countries reintroducing Covid-19 restrictions, raising concerns about demand prospects, ”ING strategists Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao said on Friday, pointing out that the main reason behind Thursday’s price decline was the rise in US treasury yields and the rising US dollar.
The higher dollar weighs on the oil market all week, as a stronger greenback makes crude oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Some profit-taking also pushes down oil prices, while market participants are focused on the negative short-term signals as the stronger expectations for the strong demand for oil later this year. Related: Oil sees biggest one-day loss since April 2020
The coal oil market for physical barrels in the main region, Asia, is also showing signs of weakness as it started to weaken in the middle of this week, with purchases from Chinese buyers dampened, traders told Bloomberg.
The recent disruptions to EU vaccination programs have also made traders and speculators anxious that setbacks could delay the reopening of major economies, including travel abroad. Most EU countries that have stopped vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about blood clots are resuming shots after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday, again after a new review, that the vaccine is safe.
Yet closures in Europe are not over yet. France has ordered a shutdown in Paris and 16 other territories for four weeks from Friday and re-locked 21 million people, or about a third of its population, for fear of a third wave of COVID-19 cases.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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