Crude Eases Today But Brent Over 10% Above March Low

Oil prices are moderately lower during the APAC session with Brent down 0.4% to $77.78/bbl but WTI is only down 0.1% to around $72.75. The USD index is down 0.3%. Crude rose sharply on Monday as risk appetite improved on hopes that a broader banking crisis would be avoided, supply disruptions and a weaker dollar.

• WTI reached a high today of $73.05 and a low or $72.64, while Brent hit $78.27 followed by a low of $77.70.
• Bloomberg reported, that crude consumers, especially airlines, used the sharp drop in prices seen in March as an opportunity to boost protection against a rally expected later in 2023. Swap dealers reported the second-largest increase in long Brent positions on record for last week. As an example Lufthansa increased its hedging of planned consumption to 85%. Brent reached a monthly low of $70.12 on March 20 but is now 10.9% above that level.
• The Fed’s Barr appears before the Senate banking panel later and there is also US trade and house price data released. API inventory data also prints. The focus of the week though is Friday’s US core PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred measure. It is expected to remain stable at 4.7% y/y in February.