LONDON—Oil prices rose on Friday amid prospects of a less aggressive U.S. rate hike, although worries about a recovery in demand capped gains.
Brent crude futures for September delivery rose 76 cents, or 0.77 percent, to $99.86 a barrel by 0929 GMT while WTI crude rose 28 cents, or 0.29 percent, to $96.06.
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s most hawkish policymakers on Thursday said they favored a rate increase of 75 basis points at its policy meeting this month, not the bigger increase traders had priced in after a report on Wednesday showed inflation was accelerating.
The interest rate uncertainty and weak economic data led to Brent and WTI shedding more than $5 on Thursday to less than the closing price on Feb. 23, the day before Russia invaded Ukraine, though both contracts clawed back nearly all the losses by the end of the session….