: Oil futures end higher as Fed ‘softens’ language around future rate hikes

Oil prices settled with a gain on Wednesday, shortly after the Federal Reserve announced its decision to boost its benchmark fed funds rate by a quarter of one percentage point. Oil prices and equities rallied in the minutes following the Fed announcement, as the central bank’s “language around future rate hikes softened, which supports the outlook for risk assets,” said Troy Vincent, senior market analyst at DTN. May West Texas Intermediate crude CLK23rose $1.23, or 1.8%, to settle at $70.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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