Oil prices traded in a narrow range on Tuesday ahead of what is expected to be an exceptionally close U.S. presidential election, after rising more than 2% in the previous session as OPEC+ delayed plans to hike production in December.
Brent crude futures ticked down 3 cents, or 0.04%, to $75.05 a barrel by 0600 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $71.43 a barrel, down 4 cents, or 0.06%.
“We are now in the calm before the storm,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
Oil prices were supported by Sunday’s announcement from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, to push back a production hike by a month from December as weak demand and rising non-OPEC supply depress markets.
Still, risk-taking remains limited with a busy week – including the U.S. election, the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, and China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) meeting – keeping many traders on the sidelines, said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.
