Crude Oil Jumps As Inflation Data Eases Interest Rate Concerns

(RTTNews) - The price of crude oil showed a notable move to the upside during trading on Wednesday, adding to the surge seen in the previous session.

After spiking $1.84 or 2.5 percent to $74.83 a barrel on Tuesday, crude for August delivery jumped $0.92 or 1.2 percent. With the continued advance, the price of crude oil reached its highest levels in two months.

The sharp increase came following the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing consumer prices increased by less than expected in the month of June.

The report also showed a notable slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth, easing concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

While the Federal Reserve is still widely expected to raise interest rates by another quarter point later this month, the data has led to renewed optimism that will be the end of the central bank's rate-hiking cycle.

Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Energy Information Administration showing crude oil inventories jumped by much more than expected in the week ended July 7th.

The report showed crude oil inventories shot up by 5.9 million barrels last week compared to economist estimates for an uptick of about 0.5 million barrels.

Distillate fuel inventories also increased by 4.8 million barrels last week, while gasoline inventories slightly decreased.