Global oil prices rose by more than 1% on Thursday on an increase in interest in risk. The price of a barrel of WTI reached the level of 73.3 dollars.
In general, risk sentiment prevailed on the world markets, which led to an increase in the US stock market by 0.5% and the European stock market by almost 0.1%. Investors played back the results of the US Federal Reserve meeting. Reports that the regulator will continue to support the economy were received with optimism by traders. In addition, on the eve of the US Department of Energy reported that over the past week, oil reserves in the country fell by 4.1 million barrels, and analysts expected a decrease of only 2.9 million. In the coming weeks, most likely, the reduction of oil and petroleum products reserves will continue, which will support the quotes.
On Thursday, the US published a preliminary estimate of GDP growth for the second quarter of 2021. The data turned out to be better than the consensus forecast, and this allowed oil prices to continue growing. Economic activity in the United States in the second quarter was strongly influenced by the improvement in consumer and business sentiment, due to the normalization of the economy after the pandemic. The probability of a slowdown in economic growth is now higher than in the second quarter of the year, but most market analysts still believe that the negative consequences for the economy from the new wave of coronavirus will generally be limited.
The forecast assumes a further increase in the price of WTI oil to the resistance levels of 73.5, 73.7 and 74 dollars per barrel.