Crude oil futures steady at Rs 4,165 after China economy grows at 30-year low

By Ritu,

Capital Sands

Crude oil futures are steady at Rs 4,165 per barrel on January 17 as participants increased their long position as seen by the open interest. The prices were holding steady after China economy grew at its slowest pace in 30 years at 6 percent after Washington and Beijing inked “Phase One” agreement on January 15.

What is uncertain is whether China will adhere to a new agreement with the US. One of country’s viable options involves stalling until this year’s presidential race is decided. There are severe structural issues in the US-China trade. Likely difficulties in implementing many of these commitments suggests that there is a high risk that the deal might fall apart later this year  said experts.

“We need to bear in mind that trade war is not over yet. US has not removed all the tariffs on Chinese imports and China is still imposing its retaliatory duties. If commitment falls short, we could see a sell-off,”

The crude for delivery in January contracts slipped Rs 1, or 0.02 to Rs 4,164 per barrel with a business volume of 15,148 lots.

The value of the January contract traded so far is Rs 2,044.29 crore and February contract saw value of Rs 381.73 crore.