From Reuters:

Oil prices retreated from 2016 highs and snapped a two-day rally on Wednesday, hurt by a surge in the dollar after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it could raise interest rates next month.

Brent and U.S. crude’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures had advanced closer to $50 a barrel on Wednesday after large gasoline and distillate drawdowns were announced by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

But minutes from the Fed’s April 26-27 policy meeting, released in late afternoon trading of oil, sent the dollar .DXY rallying against a basket of currencies and the crude benchmarks into negative territory.

The minutes showed the central bank was likely to raise rates in June if economic data pointed to stronger second-quarter growth and firmer inflation and employment.

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