Crude oil futures traded higher on Monday as the market is hoping that the relaxation of Covid-related restrictions in China would boost demand for the commodity.

At 10 am, February crude oil futures on WTI were at $80.51, up by 2.69 per cent.

January crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,620 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) in the early trade against the previous close of ₹6,555, up by 0.99 per cent; and February futures were trading at ₹6,664 as against the previous close of ₹6,602, up by 0.94 per cent.

Recently, China announced that it would resume issuing passports for tourism. This move came after months of strict zero-Covid policy being practised by China to control the pandemic. Being a major consumer of crude oil, the Chinese decision had impacted the global demand.

Impact of rate hikes

Meanwhile, the Brent crude oil futures closed near $86 a barrel on the last trading day of 2022 on Friday. This marked around 11 per cent gain in a year. Crude oil was witness to extreme volatility last year due to demand and supply mismatches.

Brent crude oil had reached a 14-year high of $137 a barrel in March soon after the start of Russia-Ukraine war.

The upward movement in prices was affected in 2022 as some of the major economies started increasing interest rates to control inflation.

January natural gas futures were trading at ₹375 on MCX in the initial trading hours against the previous close of ₹377.80, down by 0.74 per cent.

Jeera crackles

On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), January jeera contracts were trading at ₹32,465 against the previous close of ₹31,220, up by 3.99 per cent.

January steel long futures were trading at ₹49,120 on NCDEX against the previous close of ₹48630, up by 1.01 per cent.

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