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[ad_1] Last Updated: July 08, 2023, 01:27 IST New York, United States of America (USA) Oil analytics firm Vortexa said there are currently 10.5 million barrels of Saudi crude in floating storage off the Egyptian Red Sea port of Ain Sukhna, down by almost half from mid-June. (Photo: Reuters) Oil prices surge to a nine-week high as supply concerns and technical buying outweigh fears of interest rate hikes, driving demand for oil Oil prices climbed about 3% to a nine-week high on Friday as supply concerns and technical buying outweighed fears that further interest rate hikes could slow economic growth and reduce demand for oil. Brent futures rose $1.95, or 2.6%, to settle at $78.47 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) rose $2.06, or 2.9%, to settle at $73.86. That was the highest close for Brent since May 1 and WTI since May 24. Both benchmarks ended up about 5% for the week. “We’re knocking on the door of a major breakout to the upside. I think you’re seeing so

[ad_1] MSCI’s global equity index ended Friday’s session virtually unchanged while the dollar was lower as government data showed that U.S. jobs growth slowed more than expected in June, easing worries about the outlook for Federal Reserve rate hikes. But while investors appeared to hold out hope for a less hawkish Fed, they were also looking cautiously to the week ahead, with key U.S. inflation readings due along with the start of the second-quarter earnings season. Official U.S. nonfarm payrolls on Friday showed employers added 209,000 new hires in June, below forecasts, while May numbers were revised down by 33,000 to 306,000. Still, the unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in June from 3.7% in May and average hourly earnings rose 0.4%, the same as May. On Thursday, private payroll provider ADP’s strong U.S. labor market data had sparked an equities sell-off and boosted Treasury yields. While Friday’s government data was initially met with a more muted market reaction, stocks gained