Crude oil prices surrendered earlier gains on Wednesday, as most traders expected the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates later in the day, which would buoy the greenback and make crude imports more expensive for buyers paying with foreign currencies.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January CLF6, -1.04% dropped 61 cents, or 1.6%, to $36.74 a barrel. January Brent crude LCOF6, -2.70% on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 92 cents, or 2.4%, to $37.53 a barrel.
“The focus this week is the Fed’s decision. If the expectation of a rate hike is realized, it will show the U.S. economy is doing well. But given the bearish outlook on the global economy, it could be an isolated case,” said Vyanne Lai, an energy analyst at National Australia Bank.
