War and Tighter Monetary Policy Weakens IMF Economic Outlook
April 10, 2023
Crude oil prices have managed to show gains in each of the last three weeks. This is the longest upside trend so far this year. The OPEC+ announcement of additional cuts was the driving news that overshadowed the ongoing concerns about weak demand.
Bloomberg reports the International Monetary Fund has warned that its five-year outlook for economic growth is the weakest it’s been in more than three decades, with geopolitical tension and tighter monetary policy to blame.
The US jobs number came in Friday just slightly lower than expected for March 2023 and February 2023 revised higher, which may support prices today. The ADP reported only 145,000 new private jobs were created in March and the expectation was for 200,000 new jobs. The jobs number on Friday was 236,000 new jobs for March and the Dow Jones expectations was 238,000 new jobs, below the upward revised 326,000 in February.
The Baker Hughes Rig Count had oil rigs down 2 to a total of 590. 44 more than last year at this time.
CPI data will be released on Wednesday and will give the market some indication on how rate hikes are performing.