Oil steps back on Saudi supply reassurance, focus shifts to Fed

Oil prices cooled on Wednesday as Saudi Arabia said full oil production would be restored by the month’s end, while caution ahead of an expected US interest rate cut kept the wider financial markets in tight ranges.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.13 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei was flat.

Wall Street shares ticked up a tad on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.26 per cent.

Brent crude futures dipped 0.1 per cent to $64.50 a barrel, having conceded more than 60 per cent of their gains made after the weekend attack on Saudi oil facilities.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 0.5 per cent to $59.06 per barrel, compared to four-month peak of $68.38 marked on Monday.