Oil Prices Jump Almost 5% on Hopes of OPEC, Central Bank Cuts

NEW YORK (Sputnik) – Oil prices jumped nearly 5%, the biggest single-day surge in six months, on expectations that OPEC will cut production deeply and that central banks will attempt to coordinate their rescue of the global economy from the coronavirus pandemic.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the New York-traded benchmark for US crude oil, settled up $1.99, or 4.5 percent, at $46.75 per barrel on Monday. WTI lost 16% last week, its most in a week since mid-December 2008, the height of the financial crisis. Monday’s rebound was the biggest one-day benchmark for US crude since mid-September when it rose 15%.

Brent, the London-traded global benchmark for crude, settled up $2.23, also 4.5 percent, on Monday at $51.90 per barrel. Brent fell 15 percent last week.

On the rate cut front, expectations are high that the Federal Reserve will cut a half percentage point from the key US lending rate when the central bank meets 17-18 March.

Outside of the United States, the Bank of Japan and Bank of England have also both signaled their readiness to cut rates to stabilize markets.

The Saudi-led OPEC, or Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, will meet Russia and its other allies on Friday to decide production cuts necessary to prevent oil prices from falling further on the back of the coronavirus epidemic. The wider group, known as OPEC+, is considering a cut as much as 1 million barrels per day on top of the 2.1 million barrels that it had agreed to in December.

Sourse: sputniknews.com