By Sudarshan Varadhan
March 10 (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed on
Friday as traders remained cautious about frequent and steeper
rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, concerns that have
triggered a rout in energy prices over the last three days.
Brent futures, which fell about 5% over the last
three days, were up marginally from near-three week lows at
$81.72 a barrel at 0113 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
crude rose 2 cents, or 0.03%, to $75.74, having slumped
by nearly 6% in the last three trading sessions.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has warned of
higher and potentially faster rate hikes, saying the Fed was
wrong in initially thinking inflation was "transitory" and was
surprised by the strength of the labour market.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment
benefits increased by the most in five months last week, but the
underlying trend remained consistent with a tight labour market.
Expectations of ongoing rate hikes in the world's largest
oil producing country and similar remarks over the weekend by
the European Central Bank President have cast a shadow over
global growth, setting oil up for a weekly fall after two
straight weeks of gains.
The prospect of Friday's jobs report triggering faster rate
hikes is already initiating steep declines in other financial
markets, and analysts expect oil prices could also be under
pressure.
All three major Wall Street stock indexes , , closed lower on Thursday. Analysts expect the U.S.
economy to have added 205,000 jobs last month, and see
unemployment rate holding firm.
Low unemployment and consistent jobs growth could
increase overall spending capacity and trigger inflation.
Central banks reduce inflation using higher interest rates,
which slows the economy over time.
(Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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