Petrol and diesel prices held steady across metro cities on February 10, the latest price notification issued by fuel retailers showed.
Petrol and diesel in Delhi cost Rs 96.72 per litre and Rs 89.62 a litre, respectively. In Mumbai, petrol is being sold for Rs 106.31 per litre and diesel for Rs 94.27 per litre.
In Chennai, prices of petrol and diesel stands at Rs 102.63/litre and Rs 94.24/litre, respectively, while in Kolkata both the fuels are priced at Rs 106.03/litre and Rs 92.76/litre, respectively.
In another news, oil prices fell in early trade on Friday but were still set for a weekly gain with the market continuing to seesaw between fears of a recession hitting the United States and hopes for strong fuel demand recovery in China, the world's top oil importer.
Brent crude futures declined 35 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $84.15 a barrel by 0400 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 41 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $77.65 a barrel.
The downturn was partly due to a report on Thursday showing the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week, reigniting recession fears.
“Sentiment overnight seemed to be tilted towards the downside after the jobless data in the US,” said Baden Moore, National Australia Bank's head of commodity research. “However I expect the China demand recovery will be more material to the price outlook into (the second half of) 2023.”
An increase in China’s consumer price index (CPI) for January compared with December, with inflation approaching the target of about 3 percent that the government set last year, added an air of caution for the oil market.
“The rise in China's CPI in January reflected the consumption demand of residents before the Chinese New Year, but the data is not as good as expected, reflecting the slow recovery stage of the economy,” said Leon Li, analyst at CMC Markets. “Therefore, oil prices will remain volatile at this stage.”
The latest US oil inventory data this week also raised fears about a slowdown in the world’s biggest economy, with crude stocks having climbed to their highest since June 2021.
Nevertheless, Brent and WTI have jumped more than 5 percent so far this week, reversing most of the previous week’s losses as concerns about further sharp interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve have eased.
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