Oil prices steadies as markets await Fed steer - Reuters

Oil prices steadies as markets await Fed steer - Reuters:

Oil prices steadied on Friday, on track for a weekly gain, with attention focused on a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell for news on whether it will cut interest rates for a second time this year to boost the world’s largest economy.

Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, fell 4 cents to $59.88 a barrel by 0813 GMT but was up about 2.1% on the week.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 slipped by 5 cents to $55.30, up 0.8% this week.

“For now, it all comes down to Powell’s projected bias on Friday. Does he insist on the robustness of the U.S. economy or does he highlight the growing downside risks? Investors’ interpretation of Powell’s policy bias is set to sway markets,” said FXTM market analyst Han Tan.