(New York) Oil prices rose Wednesday in response to U.S. macroeconomic data that showed a slowdown, renewing hopes of Fed rate cuts that could encourage demand for energy and gold black.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in August, rose 1.14% to $78.41.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in July, gained 1.11% to $74.07.
In the United States, job creation in the private sector slowed down in May due to a sharp deterioration in the manufacturing sector, according to the monthly ADP/Stanford Lab survey.
Last month, 152,000 private jobs were created, compared to 188,000 in April and 175,000 expected by analysts.
Combined with a poor manufacturing indicator the day before, this relaxation of the labor market in the private sector, which comes before the publication of official employment figures on Friday, has revived the hypotheses of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September .
The rise in crude prices “is really due to the data released this morning which shows that the job market is finally calming down and the Fed will be free to cut rates,” said John Kilduff of Again Capital.
The market is betting 58.7% that the Fed will cut rates in September compared to 42.1% last week, according to CME Group futures product calculations.
“Risk appetite is back,” added John Kilduff, pointing to the renewed momentum in the stock market on Wall Street, which promised to end sharply higher on Wednesday after several mixed sessions.
Moreover, the state of US commercial oil stocks, which showed a slight increase in both crude and gasoline reserves, had little influence on the price of black gold.
During the week ended May 31, these commercial reserves increased by 1.2 million barrels to 455.9 million barrels. Gasoline stocks swelled by 2.1 million barrels. Swelling stocks are usually bearish for prices.
