oil

Crude prices are recording declines for the fourth consecutive session, in the longest series of declines in the year 2023, in the middle of the closing session of the week today, Friday, to record weekly losses of more than 4%, affected by the rises of the US dollar and the rise in crude stocks in a way that exceeded expectations, as Brent crude is trading at levels of $83.04 a barrel. down by 2.47%, while US crude (NYMEX) lost about 2.65%, as it traded at $76.42 per barrel.

Crude prices, like other commodity prices, are affected by the rises of the US dollar due to the inverse relationship between them, as the US dollar benefits from rising market expectations regarding additional tightening by the US Federal Reserve that we may witness after a less-than-expected slowdown in inflation in January, especially after the statements of US Federal Reserve members earlier today.

The report of the US Energy Information Administration had shown in the official reading of inventories issued on Wednesday that US inventories rose in the past week ending on the tenth of February by 16.3 million barrels, while expectations were for an increase of 1.5 million. In details, gasoline stocks increased by about 2.3 million barrels, while distillate stocks, which include heating fuel and diesel, decreased by about 1.3 million barrels.

gold

The yellow metal, in turn, is trading at its lowest level since January 3, at $1,823 an ounce, at a loss of 0.79%, heading to record weekly losses of more than 2%, affected by the strength of the US dollar, while silver is losing about 2%, and trading at $21.20 an ounce.

Gold, known for its extreme sensitivity to interest rates, is affected by the statements of US Federal Reserve members this morning in support of stronger monetary policy tightening, as Loretta Mester, President of the Federal Reserve in Philadelphia, stated early this morning that she would have preferred to raise interest rates by 50 basis points at the March meeting, and indicated that the Fed He still has a lot of work to do until inflation recedes, while the President of the Reserve Bank of St. Louis, James Bullard, indicated that he supported raising interest rates by 50 basis points in the February meeting instead of a quarter of a point, indicating that the battle against inflation is still long.