Oil prices settled higher on Friday and posted a weekly gain amid hopes that the US Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates soon, which is expected to boost crude demand.
Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, reversed earlier losses to close 0.74 per cent higher at $83.47 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, added 1.49 per cent at settle at $79.19 a barrel.
Weakness in the US dollar was the primary reason for Thursday's increase in crude oil prices, US-based energy company Tellurian said in a note.
“The dollar weakened following news that retail sales decreased in January,” it said.
Retail spending in the US, the world’s largest economy, fell more than expected in January due to cold weather, sparking hopes that the Fed will start lowering interest rates in coming months.
Sales last month dropped by 0.8 per cent, the biggest decline in about a year, the US Commerce Department reported.
“The retail sales data for January were poor. Not only that, they were much poorer than already low expectations,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.
The latest data comes after inflation in the US rose more than expected in January.
The Fed has raised interest rates 11 times in a year and a half, bringing the key federal funds rate to between 5.25 per cent and 5.5 per cent, the highest since 2001.
UAE lender Emirates NBD expects three rate cuts in 2024, starting from the Fed’s June meeting and continuing once every quarter until the end of the year.
“Activity and labour market data may start to weaken by then, but our view remains that lowering real rates will be the Fed’s motivation for rate cuts, rather than providing stimulus to the economy,” Edward Bell, head of market economics at Emirates NBD, said in a research note this week.
Lower interest rates support economic growth, which supports oil demand.
Oil prices fell by about 1 per cent during day trading on Thursday after the International Energy Agency slashed its 2024 oil demand growth forecast and said global crude consumption was “losing momentum”.
The agency expects crude demand to grow by 1.22 million barrels per day this year, compared with 2.3 million bpd in 2023, it said in its monthly oil market report.
It had previously forecast 2024 demand growth of 1.24 million bpd.
Meanwhile, US crude inventories, an indicator of fuel demand, increased by 12 million barrels in the week that ended on February 9, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a rise of 2.6 million barrels.
Total petroleum stocks decreased by 3.7 million barrels last week while distillate fuel inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels, the EIA data showed.
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
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THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
2/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
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Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Jawan
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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JERSEY INFO
Red Jersey
General Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the leader of the General Classification by time.
Green Jersey
Points Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the fastest sprinter, who has obtained the best positions in each stage and intermediate sprints.
White Jersey
Young Rider Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the best young rider born after January 1, 1995 in the overall classification by time (U25).
Black Jersey
Intermediate Sprint Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the rider who has gained the most Intermediate Sprint Points.
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Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
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Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Wonka
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
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