The pre-Christmas wind down is well and truly here. Risk assets struggled for direction in thin trading yesterday amid a dearth of fresh catalysts. Yet modest gains materialised later in the session with sentiment well supported by easing trade tensions. The trade backdrop was given a further boost on Thursday after China unveiled a new [...]
The market is getting into festive mode. Volumes are thinner and the daily ranges are narrower. Yet, prices are holding up admirably well. Support yesterday was found in the weekly US oil statistics from the EIA. The report was not unexpectedly bullish but it was much more positive than the API data released the night [...]
Solid gains were the order of the day on Tuesday as the prevailing feel-good factor showed no sign of abating. Alongside deeper OPEC+ cuts and the wave of trade optimism, sentiment was boosted by upbeat US macro data. Latest figures revealed that US building permits hit the highest level since 2007. Meanwhile, industrial production rebounded [...]
The daily ranges say it all. WTI managed 63 cents/bbl yesterday and Brent 78 cents/bbl . It was a quiet day where Heating Oil and Gasoil were the main leaders. The former gained 76 cents/bbl equivalent on the day and the latter posted a daily gain of more than $1.50/bbl equivalent. As a result WTI [...]
What’s common in the UK and the US (and Hungary, Poland, Italy and Brazil for that reason)? Their leaders are probably avid readers of the lives of Julius Caesar, Napoleon or the Habsburgs. They successfully adapted the “divide and conquer” rule that has been used by sovereigns and emperors through history. The modern day strategy [...]
The IEA will have been struck off many a Christmas card list yesterday after releasing its updated oil forecasts. Whereas the EIA and OPEC agree that the oil market will be balanced in the first three months of next year, this optimism was lost on the IEA. Instead, the agency rocked the consensus boat by [...]
Considering the quality of yesterday’s weekly US stock data from the EIA the oil market did extremely well. The damage was actually limited to the half an hour period right after the release of the stats after which the market concentrated on recovering from the nasty drop. These efforts are still ongoing this morning. The [...]
Surprise, surprise: the post-OPEC bullish jolt is all but a distant memory. Oil prices have struggled for traction this week as demand concerns returned to the fore. Both crude markers spent much of yesterday wallowing in negative territory but did well to eke out the slightest of gains. This came as rumours circulated that Washington [...]
There are three events the market has to deal with this month that could potentially have a far-reaching impact on the formation of oil and equity prices. The first one is the OPEC+ strategy for next year. The meeting that took place last week was positive as far as production levels are concerned but market players [...]
The OPEC+ circus rolled into town last week with the oil market in dire need of a positive signal. Expectations for extra output curbs were running high given that a supply surplus was looming. Suffice to say, inaction would have amounted to price suicide. Mercifully for oil bulls, the producer alliance took bold and pre-emptive [...]
