Crude Oil Little Changed After Recovering From Early Weakness

(RTTNews) - Crude oil prices moved back to the downside early in the session on Thursday but have regained ground over the course of the trading day.

After falling as much as 1.4 percent to a low of $59.64 a barrel, crude for December delivery was last seen trading at $60,46 a barrel, down just $0.02 or less than a tenth of a percent.

The price of crude oil initially came under pressure amid renewed uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday.

While the Fed lowered interest rates by another quarter point as widely expected, Powell's post-meeting remarks partly offset optimism about another rate cut in December.

Powell said a further reduction in rates in December is "not a foregone conclusion," noting Fed officials had "strongly differing views about how to proceed" at the final meeting of the year.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 72.8 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by another quarter point in December, down from 91.1 percent a week ago.

However, selling pressure has waned over the course of the session amid upbeat news out of a highly-anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The U.S. has agreed to reduce fentanyl-linked tariffs on China to 10 percent from 20 percent, while China has agreed to resume purchases of U.S. soybeans

China will also suspend the implementation of new export controls on rare earths, and in return, the U.S. will suspend its 50 percent penetration rule on export controls