Oil Prices Set for a Weekly Loss Due to Fears Interest Rates Will Remain High

After a string of gains, crude oil prices are set to end this week with a loss on worry that interest rates in key markets will remain high, dampening demand for the commodity. The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank both signaled recently they were going to postpone their rate cut plans because of the latest inflation data. In the U.S., the latest CPI report revealed a figure higher than expected for March, at 3.5%, while in the eurozone March inflation surprised positively, at 2.4%. Even so, the ECB decided to keep rates unchanged…