WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices fell around 1 percent on Thursday as investors were disappointed by Fed Chair Jerome Powell's message on future rate moves and a lack of progress in U.S.-China trade talks.
Benchmark Brent crude fell around 1 percent to $64.39 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 1.3 percent at $57.64 a barrel.
Oil prices are declining for the first time in six days as markets took the Fed policy statement as more hawkish than expected.
The Fed, as expected, cut interest rates by a quarter point in its first reduction in more than a decade, but sounded hawkish about the pace and scope of future rate cuts, calling the cut a mid-cycle policy adjustment.
Meanwhile, U.S. and China trade negotiators ended their two day talks with no definitive deal to resolve a bitter dispute, though the White House and China's Commerce Ministry each described the meetings in Shanghai as constructive. They have agreed to meet again in September.
In another significant development, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a dramatic step bound to further escalate tensions with Tehran.
The announcement came as Trump's national security adviser said that nuclear-related sanctions on Iran would again be waived for 90 days.
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