NEW YORK, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices rose on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and newly-released data showed a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories.
The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery gained 0.53 U.S. dollar to settle at 58.58 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery rose 0.45 dollar to close at 65.17 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered interest rates for the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis, amid rising concerns over trade tensions, a slowing global economy and muted inflation pressures.
The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's rate-setting body, trimmed the target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a range of 2 percent to 2.25 percent after concluding its two-day policy meeting, in line with market expectation.
"Concerns about demand have moved into the background, at least temporarily," due to the rate cut decision, "so market participants are instead focusing more on the rather tight supply at present again," noted analysts at Commerzbank.
In the week ending July 26, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 8.5 million barrels from the previous week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.
Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts, on average, expected a decline of 3.9 million barrels. Enditem
