Oil prices mixed ahead of OPEC meeting
Xinhua, June 1, 2016 Adjust font size:
Oil prices traded mixed on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) due to open later this week.
The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery lost 23 cents to settle at 49.10 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery increased 37 cent to close at 49.69 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
OPEC will hold a meeting in Vienna, Austria, on June 2. Analysts said the crude trade may remain slow ahead of the summit, although there is a strong consensus that policy will remain unchanged.
In the previous session, oil prices fell as the U.S. dollar rallied amid rate hike expectations, which made the dollar-denominated oil less attractive for holders of other currencies.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said at Harvard University Friday that an interest rate hike in the next few months would probably be appropriate. Endit