NEW YORK, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices bounced back on Tuesday, as investors digested the latest speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Saudi Arabia's intentions to further supply cut to shore up prices.
The Fed chair said the U.S. central bank would "act as appropriate to sustain the expansion" as they have been observing how the lingering trade frictions would affect U.S. economy.
"We are closely monitoring the implications of these developments for the U.S. economic outlook and, as always, we will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion, with a strong labor market and inflation near our symmetric 2 percent objective," Powell said in a speech on Tuesday.
Analysts said the speech eased market concerns over a weakening global demand for crude oil caused by escalating trade tensions, as Powell said the Fed would put itself in the "best position" to deal with the next encounter with recession.
Saudi Minister of Energy Khalid Al-Falih indicated that OPEC would continue to sustain market stability beyond June.
"To me, that means drawing down inventories from their currently elevated levels," the minister was quoted as saying by a local newspaper on Monday.
The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery was up 0.23 U.S. dollar to settle at 53.48 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for August delivery increased 0.69 dollar to close at 61.97 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem
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