Oil prices traded higher on Monday on the back of assertions by the to keep attacking Yemen’s Houthis until the Iran-aligned group ends its assaults on shipping.
Brent futures rose 41 cents or 0.6 per cent to stand at $70.99 a barrel in the morning trading hours, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 40 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $67.58 a barrel.
Oil prices rise slightly
Both benchmarks pared some gains after rising more than 1 per cent in early Asian trade as China reported a mixed start to the year.
The US airstrikes, which the Houthi-run health ministry said killed at least 53 people, are the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January, Reuters reported.
One US official told Reuters the campaign might run for weeks.
Oil prices rose slightly last week, snapping a three-week losing streak fed by concern over a global economic slowdown driven by escalating trade tension between the US and other nations.
Meanwhile, Chinese government data showed that industrial output slowed in January-February, while retail sales growth accelerated slightly.
The state council, or cabinet, unveiled what it called a “special action plan” on Sunday in a bid to boost domestic consumption and economic recovery amid a burst of US trade tariffs against China, among key trading partners.
That effort has threatened to upset the global trade order.
Goldman Sachs cuts oil forecasts
Analysts at Goldman Sachs cut oil price forecasts, saying they expected the US economy to grow slower than expected, due to the tariffs imposed on countries such as Canada, China and Mexico.
“We reduce by $5 our December 2025 forecast for Brent to $71/bbl (WTI to $67), our Brent range to $65 to $80, and our 2026 average forecast to $68 for Brent (WTI to $64),” the analysts said in a note.
Oil demand was expected to grow at a slower pace than previously expected, while supply from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) was expected to exceed forecasts, the Goldman analysts said.
US consumer sentiment plunged to a nearly two-and-a-half-year low in March and inflation expectations have soared amid worries that Trump’s sweeping tariffs would boost prices and undercut the economy.
US Federal Reserve officials meeting next week are expected to leave the benchmark overnight interest rate in the range of 4.25 per cent to 4.50 per cent, having reduced it by 100 basis points since September, as they weigh the economic impact of the administration’s policies.
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