Oil Retreats Further from 5-Month Highs, Doha Talks in Focus
Oil benchmarks
on both sides of Atlantic fell further into losses on Thursday, moving
further away from multi-month peaks as bearish inventory report and
nervous ahead of Doha OPEC meeting weighs on investors’ minds.
Weekend’s Doha meet in focus
Currently
both crude benchmarks are seen extending to the downside, with WTI down
-1.53% to $ 41.12 while the Brent oil drops -1.47% to $ 43.53. Oil
prices are seen extending further to the downside as markets continue to
digest the bearish EIA crude stockpiles report, which showed that US
crude stockpiles jumped by 6.634 million barrels in the week to April 8,
following the 4.9 million barrels decline recorded a week before.
Markets expected a rise of 733,000 barrels.
Moreover, mixed views
on whether the OPEC producers will be able to reach a consensus on
output freeze/ cut plans at their meeting in Doha this Sunday, also kept
the bulls at bay.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley believe, "We think any agreement actually sets up bearish catalysts for the months ahead.”