Oil was on track for its first back-to-back quarterly loss since 2019 as persistent concerns over the demand outlook weigh on prices.
West Texas Intermediate futures traded below $70 a barrel after closing 0.4% higher in the previous session. The market has faced a raft of headwinds over the quarter, from China’s sluggish economic recovery to aggressive interest-rate hikes by central banks and resilient supply from Russia.
That’s culminated in a lasting bearish tone which has managed to overwhelm any optimism around supply cuts by Saudi Arabia or robust summer demand. A recent short-lived uprising in Russia also failed to spark meaningful gains.
The outlook for the second half is mixed. There is some optimism the market will tighten and that will support prices, but Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and some of his peers said on Wednesday that more interest-rate increases are likely, a measure that will drag on energy consumption.
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