Crude Holds Onto Most Of Wednesday’s Gains, But Still Jittery

Oil prices are down around 0.4% during the APAC session but have been trading in narrow ranges. They rose around 2.5% yesterday on increased confidence there would be a timely solution to the US debt-ceiling impasse. WTI is around $72.56/bbl up from the intraday low of $72.49, while Brent is $76.68 after a low of $76.57. The USD index is slightly higher.

• Demand concerns persist in the crude market driven by lacklustre data from China and continued US rate hikes. It continues to worry that there will be a recession in the US. While there have been some supply disruptions, overall it remains solid as Russia does not appear to have cut output despite its reassurances that it will to support prices.
• Later the Fed’s Jefferson gives a speech on the economic outlook and Barr and Logan are also speaking. On the data front, there is US April existing home sales, the leading index, jobless claims and the May Philadelphia Fed index. ECB President Lagarde is also due to speak.