WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices were flat to slightly higher on Tuesday, as concerns about supplies outweighed the prospect of further increases to interest rates.
Benchmark Brent crude futures edged up 0.3 percent to $92.25 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were marginally higher at $85.39.
Prices pared early gains as Sweden's central bank raised its benchmark rate at a sharper-than-expected pace and warned it may keep raising the policy rate to curb high inflation.
The Executive Board of Riksbank raised the key interest rate by 1 percentage point to 1.75 percent while markets had widely expected a 75 basis-point rate hike.
Inflation worries returned to the fore after data showed Germany's producer price inflation hit a fresh record high in August, driven by energy prices.
Producer prices registered an annual increase of 45.8 percent in August, faster than the 37.2 percent rise in July, Destatis reported. The rate was forecast to ease slightly to 37.1 percent.
Energy prices soared 139.0 percent in August from the last year. Excluding energy, producer prices were up 14.0 percent.
On a monthly basis, producer prices gained 7.9 percent, the highest on record, from 5.3 percent in July.
It is feared that aggressive monetary tightening by major central banks to combat inflation will dent growth and the demand for crude.
Inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute, an industry body, is awaited later in the day after last week's figure showed a hefty 6-million-barrel addition.
Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2022 AFX News
