Oil prices settle mixed after Fed rate cut

Oil prices settled mixed on Tuesday after the U.S. central bank's interest-rate cut.

The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery settled 0.43 U.S. dollar higher at 47.18 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May delivery fell 0.04 dollar to settle at 51.86 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday lowered the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 1 percent to 1.25 percent amid COVID-19 concerns.

In a surprise announcement, the Fed said that "in light of these risks and in support of achieving its maximum employment and price stability goals," the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy-setting body, decided to cut its key interest rate by 0.5 percentage point.

Oil prices surged on Monday on hope of deeper production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partnering countries.