Oil jumps for the third day

Oil prices rose in early trading on Wednesday, extending gains from the past two days, as the dollar fell after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appeared less hawkish on interest rates than markets had expected, and as US crude inventories fell surprisingly.

Brent crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $83.80 a barrel at 0119 GMT, extending gains of 3.3 percent in the previous session.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures also rose 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $77.27 a barrel, after jumping 4.1 percent in the previous session.

The dollar index fell slightly to 103.29 in early trade, extending losses after Powell’s comments on Tuesday, making oil cheaper for holders of other currencies.

With less sharp increases in US interest rates, the market hopes that the world’s largest economy and oil consumer will be able to avoid a sharp slowdown in economic activity or even recession and avoid a decline in oil demand.

And providing support to the market, the weekly inventory data issued by the American Petroleum Institute showed that crude stocks fell by about 2.2 million barrels in the week ending on February 3, according to market sources.

That differed from the expectations of nine analysts polled by Reuters, who estimated crude inventories growth at around 2.5 million barrels.

However, gasoline and distillate inventories rose more than expected. Gasoline stocks rose by 5.3 million barrels, and distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 1.1 million barrels.

The market will be looking to see if US Energy Information Administration data, due at 1530 GMT on Wednesday, confirms the decline in crude stocks. Earnings in the technology sector