A firm dollar makes commodities priced in the U.S. currency more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Fears of a hawkish Fed returned to the fore on Friday after the personal consumption expenditures price index, shot up 0.6percent last month after gaining 0.2percent in December.Adding to the downside pressure, U.S. crude oil inventories surged to the highest level since May 2021 last week, data from the Energy Information Administration showed.
On the supply side, Russia plans to cut oil exports from its western ports by up to 25percent in March versus February, exceeding its previously announced production cuts of 5percent.Oil prices have fallen by about a sixth in the year since Feb. 24, 2022, when Russian troops first marched into Ukraine.
Russia halted supplies of oil to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, the chief executive of Polish refiner PKN Orlen said on Saturday, a day after Poland delivered its first Leopard tanks to Ukraine.