Oil prices slid today after solid economic data pushed the dollar up to two-month highs. Inflation does not seem to be cooling fast enough to allow the Federal Reserve to pause interest rate hikes, according to two Fed policymakers. “Good news for the economy is now bad news for the crude demand outlook as economic resilience will force the Fed to kill the economy,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at data and analytics firm OANDA. The strength of April U.S. economic data in
addition to optimism about the debt ceiling negotiations have strengthened market expectations of a further hike, ANZ Research said in a note on Thursday. On the supply side, Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports rose about 1% to 7.52 million barrels bpd in March from the previous month. WTI traded down $.97 or 1.3% to close at $71.86.Brent traded $1.10 or -1.4% to close at $75.86.