naturalgas futures trade more than 9 higher week to date oil futures ended lower on thursday pressured as the keystone pipeline partially reopened and as traders assessed the demand outlook following another federal reserve rate hike crude however remained on track for a big weekly bounce after a rout last week that sent both us and global benchmarks to nearly sixmonth lows week to date prices for brent crude traded nearly 7 higher and wti was up over 7 with the us dollar still down overall for the week and as investors grew more optimistic over the outlook for demand from china as it relaxes covid 19 curbs a weaker dollar can be supportive of commodities priced in the unit making them less expensive to users of other currencies in thursday dealings however the ice us dollar index  a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals was up 06 paring its losses for the week after the federal reserve on wednesday delivered a widely expected 50 basis point rate hike and signaled that the fedfunds rate is likely to peak above the 5 level next year the decision was slightly hawkish on the surface said tyler richey coeditor at sevens report research for oil persistent hopes for a soft landing will be important for the bull case as a deep recession would more than likely cripple consumer demand for refined products and see energy prices fall substantially he told marketwatch fears that aggressive tightening by the fed and other major central banks could spark a sharp global slowdown have weighed on crude in recent months the bank of england as expected delivered a halfpoint rate increase thursday morning with the european central bank also expected to hike rates later in the day earlier the swiss national bank joined the us federal reserve in lifting rates by a halfpoint oil prices also declined as tc energy trpt announced thursday that it restarted a section of the keystone pipeline following a shutdown last week due to a leak resulting in an oil spill that has been referred to as the biggest in the united states in more than a decade in terms of oil demand recession worries in the west have been getting at least partially offset by optimism about china relaxing covid restrictions and getting closer to reopening the economy analysts at sevens report research wrote in thursdays newsletter read chinas recovery is key to the 2023 outlook for industrial metals and more wti is attempting to form a new support zone near 70 a barrel but recession concerns are likely to limit any material upside in futures leaving the market once again rangebound albeit at a lower price point than earlier in 2022 the sevens report analysts said in other energy dealings naturalgas futures finished sharply higher recouping its losses from a day earlier and then some the us energy information administration reported thursday that domestic naturalgas supplies fell by 50 billion cubic feet for the week ended dec 9 that compared with an average forecast for a decline of 46 billion cubic feet according to a survey of analysts brokers and traders conducted by the wall street journal but was smaller than the fiveyear average decline of 93 billion for the period weather forecasts continue to lean bullish with noaas twoweek forecasts showing colderthannormal temperatures for most of the midwest northeast and south said victoria dircksen commodity analyst at schneider electric thats expected to overshadow a return of more mild temperatures in the western us ultimately pushing demand above seasonal averages and skewing nearterm price risk toward the upside she wrote in a daily report