Crude Oil Closes Modestly Lower Following Volatile Session

(RTTNews) - Following the steep drop seen last Friday, the price of crude oil saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading session on Tuesday.

In its last day as the front-month contract, crude for March delivery edged down $0.16 or 0.2 percent to $76.16 a barrel after jumping as high as $77.51 a barrel and falling as low as $75.69 a barrel.

The more actively traded crude for April delivery dipped $0.19 or 0.3 percent to $76.29 a barrel after reaching a high of $77.74 a barrel and a low of $75.90 a barrel.

With the modest decrease on the day, the price of crude oil closed lower for the fifth consecutive session.

The volatility on the session came as traders weighed concerns about the impact of higher U.S. interest rates against optimism about increased demand from China.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which could shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates.