Crude oil futures traded higher on Friday morning as the US-led forces attacked the military targets of the Houthis in Yemen on Thursday.

At 9.54 am on Friday, March Brent oil futures were at $78.71, up by 1.68 per cent, and February crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $73.32, up by 1.81 per cent.

January crude oil futures were trading at ₹6.094 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during initial trading against the previous close of ₹6,006, up by 1.47 per cent, and February futures were trading at ₹6,127 against the previous close of ₹6035, up by 1.52 per cent.

Iran captures oil tanker

According to reports, attacks by the US-led forces on the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen came after Iran captured an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.

Airstrikes by the US-led forces on the Houthis in Yemen led to concerns over further oil supply disruptions from the Middle East region.

The recent attacks on the merchant vessels by the Houthis and subsequent replies by the US-led forces have made several shipping lines to skip the route. Such developments would lead to delays in the supplies of commodities, including crude oil, to the world market.

In addition to this, war between Israel and Hamas, which began in October, is also continuing.

Meanwhile, data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China showed China’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation grew by 0.1 per cent month-on-month in December against a decline of 0.5 per cent in November. However, the market was expecting the CPI inflation to grow at 0.2 per cent in December.

Though the market reports attributed the 0.1 per cent growth in CPI inflation to the year-end holiday spending in December, they noted that the continuous decline in inflation showed a disinflationary trend in China.

Even there was a fall in the producer price index (PPI) inflation in China in December. According to National Bureau of Statistics of China, PPI inflation declined to 2.7 per cent in December against a decline of 3 per cent in November. Market was expecting a decline of 2.6 per cent in December.

China being a major consumer of crude oil in the global market, these numbers created apprehensions over the demand for the commodity from the market.

Jeera cools, dhaniya turns hot

January natural gas futures were trading at ₹261.70 on MCX against the previous close of ₹265.50, down by 1.43 per cent.

On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), January jeera contracts were trading at ₹30,950 against the previous close of ₹31,195, down by 0.79 per cent.

April dhaniya futures were trading at ₹7,780 on NCDEX against the previous close of ₹7,734, up by 0.59 per cent.

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