:Oil prices opened lower on Monday after China set a lower-than-expected target for economic growth this year at around 5 per cent, and as investors cautiously awaited U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony this week. Brent crude futures were trading down 58 cents, or 0.7 per cent, at $85.25 a b
:Oil prices opened lower on Monday after China set a lower-than-expected target for economic growth this year at around 5 per cent, and as investors cautiously awaited U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony this week.
China's closely watched growth outlook, announced on Sunday, was lower than its 5.5 per cent gross domestic product growth target last year. GDP grew last year by just 3 per cent. Policy sources had told Reuters a range as high as 6 per cent could be set for 2023. "Economic re-opening is proceeding better than we had expected earlier – the feared 'second-wave' of COVID did not materialize and there was little sign of supply disruptions," Tao Wang, Head of China economic research at UBS Investment Bank, said in a note.
At the same time, oil prices are likely to be impacted by rate hikes across the world as global central banks tighten policy over fears of increasing inflation. Traders have started factoring in rate hikes across the world, but are hoping for smaller increases than last year.
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