The price of Petroleum intermediate of Texas (WTI) opened this Monday with a fall of 4.71% and stood at 97.26 dollars a barrel, amid concerns about the impact of the confinements to control the coronavirus in Shanghai (China) on demand.
At 9:05 a.m. local time in New York (1:05 p.m. GMT), WTI futures contracts for June delivery were down $4.81 from Friday’s close.
The US benchmark crude, which fell more than 4% of its value last week, today lost the level of 100 dollars after learning that the great Chinese metropolis has increased its confinement measures due to the rebound in the number of deaths from COVID -19.
Shanghai has tightened its measures, even erecting fences in some residential areas, amid a rebound in the death toll, while Beijing begins to carry out massive tests and close housing estates to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the Chinese capital.
“The tightening of ‘COVID zero’ restrictions in Shanghai and fears that omicron (variant) has spread through Beijing have torpedoed market sentiment today, driving prices down again in Asian trades,” he said. analyst Jeffrey Halley, from the firm Oanda.
Experts also point out that the rise in interest rates planned by the US central bank will strengthen the dollar, the currency with which the US is traded. Petroleumand that its higher price for foreign buyers is a risk perceived by the market today.
