In addition to equity risk assets, crude oil commodities also suffered a decline with the United States (US) economic data that was published yesterday strongly returning concerns about interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve (Fed).
Early this morning Brent crude oil futures were down 3.4% at $82.68 while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil was down 3.8% at $76.93.
For now the market expects the Fed to return to its aggressive stance on interest rate hikes despite Jerome Powell's previous dovish tone.
According to Price Futures analyst, Phil Flynn, yesterday's strong economic news rekindled macroeconomic concerns and the prospects of the Fed with its tightening policy.
Prior to the release of the data, oil prices jumped 2% on news that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia (OPEC+) maintained their stance of limiting production to 2 million barrels per day until 2023.
It is not a surprising decision considering that the European Union (EU) and the Group of 7 (G7) put a price limit of $60 per barrel for Russian oil due to the imposed sanctions.
Also contributing to yesterday's strengthening was the easing of restrictions in China after months of activities in the world's second largest economic power were disrupted.
