Crude oil climbs 3rd day on subdued dollar, US crude stocks’ drop Oil prices rose early on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous two days, as the dollar fell after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sounded less hawkish on interest rates than markets had expected and as U.S. crude stocks surprisingly fell. Brent crude futures inched up by 11 cents, or 0.1%, to $83.80 a barrel at 0119 GMT, adding to a 3.3% gain in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures advanced by 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $77.27 a barrel, after jumping 4.1% in the previous session. The dollar index was down slightly at 103.29 in early trade, extending losses after Powell’s comments on Tuesday, making oil cheaper for those holding other currencies. “If we have stronger than expected growth out of the developing world, (oil) prices will be firmer and OPEC will have to step up output. That’s not our core view. We don’t see a big surge in demand,” he said. Supporting the market, weekly inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group showed crude stocks fell by about 2.2 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 3, according to market sources.That defied expectations from nine analysts polled by Reuters, who had estimated crude stocks grew by 2.5 million barrels. However, gasoline and distillate inventories rose more than expected, with gasoline stocks up by about 5.3 million barrels and distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, up by about 1.1 million barrels. The market will be looking to see if data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, due at 1530 GMT, confirms the decline in crude stocks.
The move had also prompted the country’s largest organised retailer Reliance Retail to step into the value retail segment with Yousta, which was announced on Thursday. Like Intune, Yousta began its operations in Hyderabad, with plans to expand across the country. Intune has three stores – two in Hyderabad and one in Dombivli, near Mumbai, with plans to add another three more outlets in the coming months.
Nair had admitted on a recent earnings call that the apparel segment in general was witnessing moderation and that the value retail foray by Shoppers Stop could help the company tap into the growing trend for affordable fashion and lifestyle products, aiding sales growth.
That was an important statement for Shoppers Stop, which reported a nearly 37% year-on-year drop in net profit to Rs 14.5 crore in the June quarter of FY24, even as revenue grew only 4.8% versus the previous year to nearly Rs 994 crore.
On a yearly basis, the company had last reported a net profit of nearly Rs 114 crore in FY23 after three consecutive years of loss between FY20 and FY22 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. FY23 topline also jumped nearly 60% year-on-year to Rs 4,022 crore, the highest in six years, its results showed.