By Zhang Mengying
Investing.com – Oil was down on Friday morning in Asia, weighed down by demand concerns following global interest rate hikes.
Brent oil futures were down 0.62% to $119.07 by 12:13 AM ET (4:13 AM GMT) and crude oil WTI futures were down 0.69% to $116.78.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) Friday decided to keep policy ultraloose despite rising inflation while some other global central banks are adopting tight monetary policies.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced Wednesday an interest rate hike of 75 basis points, sparking worries of an economic downturn. The Swiss National Bank also hike interest rates by 50 basis points on Thursday, while the Bank of England raised its interest rates to 1.25% on the same day. The tightening policies from central banks added to investors’ concerns of an economic downturn.
“The central banks’ rate hikes are pressuring the oil prices, despite ongoing tight supplies,” CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng.
Investors now shifted focus to tight supplies as the U.S. announced new sanctions on Iran.
“The market has been watching negotiations between the West and Iran in anticipation of a revival of the nuclear deal in recent months. This brought back into focus the ongoing supply-side issues in the market,” ANZ Research analysts said in a note.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Chinese and Emirati companies and a network of Iranian firms that help with Iran’s petrochemicals exports, aiming to pose pressure on Tehran to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.