Oil trimmed its mild losses for the week, as it rose for a second session, ahead of personal spending data which will help determine the monetary policy moves the Fed will make at the next FOMC meeting March 21-22.

West Texas Intermediate rose to almost $76 per barrel, following an almost 2% gain in the previous session. Later in the week, personal expenditures data will be released, and investors are waiting anxiously to see what it may indicate about the Federal Reserve’s next policy moves. This week the minutes from the last meeting indicated there would be more rate hikes coming.

It has been a volatile year for oil, as investors bounced back and forth from optimism over the reopening of China driving a massive recovery of demand, followed by fears over the coming global economic slowdown. Overall, Wall Street banks are beginning to lower their expectations for crude prices, with UBS Group AG and Morgan Stanley the latest to lower their crude outlooks.

Charu Chanana, a strategist at Saxo Capital Markets Pte. said, “A more convincing pickup in Chinese activity is needed to lift oil higher.” She noted that rising US stockpiles and the likelihood of more rate hikes are weighing prices down.

Inventories of US crude were up by 7.65 million barrels last week,, reaching the highest price since May of 2021. The Cushing Oklahoma hub stockpiles, where WTI is delivered to, grew for the eighth week, hitting the highest level since June of 2021.

The prompt spread for WTI has maintained its bearish contango structure for two months now, indicating traders feel the price will not be rising soon. The nearest prompt spread for Brent indicates a tighter market.