Oil continued its gains during Friday's trading set for
another heavy loss this week, following significant gains in the previous session,
as a result of stimulus measures and the US president's hint of intervention to
reduce the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.
As of 11:02 GMT, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded at $26.99 per
barrel, while the highest level recorded during the session was at 28.22.
The oil gains come as the European Central Bank announces that it
has launched an emergency €750 billion bond purchase program as a stimulus
response to support economic strikes caused by the Coved-19 outbreak.
The Federal Reserve also announced the expansion of the currency
exchange program in order to solve the crisis of the dollar break.
Bank of England also decided to cut interest rates and strengthen
asset purchases after an emergency meeting, in light of the efforts of central
banks to support the economy exhausted by the coronavirus.
Some reports suggest that the Trump administration is considering
intervening to curb the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia by urging
Saudi Arabia to cut supplies and use a threat of sanctions against Russia to
force it to limit production.
Black gold lost about 24 percent during Wednesday’s trading, amid
gains from the US dollar as well as supply and demand concerns due to the
"Covid-19" binary virus and the price war between OPEC and Russia.
U.S. Energy Information Administration data yesterday showed US
oil inventories rose below expectations over the past week, and U.S. crude
production rebounded to an all-time high.
Regarding Coved-19 developments, the number of cases worldwide has
reached more than 244,000, and 10,000
people have died globally.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the performance of six
major currencies against the US dollar, slumped by 1.50 percent at 102.03.