Oil edges higher on inventory drawdown
Major US indexes ended mixed as Fed keep the benchmark lending rate near zero. The Dow dropped 0.36%, the S&P 500 also followed with a fall by 0.02%. The Nasdaq however rises by 0.70% as FAANG earnings impress. The 10-year US treasury yields ended 1 bps down on the day, yielding around 1.2360. The DXY US Dollar chart dipped 15 bps, currently standing at 92.177. US Brent Crude oil rises on the day by 0.12% on inventory drawdowns, causing Brent to top $75 for the first time in 2 years.
Asian markets opened all green today. China’s CSI 300 is up by 1.86%, Japan’s NIKKEI also edged up by 0.73% trading at 27782.42. HANG SENG currently trades at the highest gain, standing taller at 2.66% as Alibaba group holding contributed most to the index gain, increasing 6.5%. Australia’s ASX is higher by 0.52% and India by 0.54%.
Qatar’s trade surplus widened 16.672b from 16.608b in May. Also, Qatari lender expects sustainable growth in earning to continue after implementing a five-pronged reorganization strategy. BBG Qatar is currently down 0.24%. Saudi Arabia imposes a 3-year travel ban for citizens visiting ‘red list’ countries, with BBG Saudi down by 0.02%. Lebanese president named Billionaire Mikati to form new cabinet, the Beirut BLOM is up 1.87%.
European stocks gained on Wednesday as encouraging earnings reports from British bank Barclays and luxury group Kering helped investors look past worries about China’s regulatory crackdown that kept markets on edge this week. At 2:05 AM ET (0605 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded flat, CAC 40 futures in France rose 0.1% and the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. was flat as well.
European markets have received a positive handover from Asia after reports that Chinese authorities tried to calm market fears about a regulatory clampdown by calling banks overnight. This could allow European investors to concentrate more fully on the ongoing reporting season.
German inflation and unemployment data for July are due later in the session, but eyes will also be on the release of the minutes of last week’s European Central Bank meeting.
The Russian stock market ended the trading session in the green. The ruble denominated MOEX Russia Index gained 0.5% and climbed to 3,782.28 points today, according to data of the Moscow Exchange. The dollar denominated RTS index added 1.36% and amounted to 1,616.34 points. The dollar edged down by 0.03% against the ruble to 73.7 rubles. The euro tumbled 0.1% to 87.05 rubles.
The Russian economy in June 2021 exceeded the pre-Covid level of Q4 2019 by 0.1%, the country’s Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said during the Russia-Islamic World: KazanSummit 2021 international economic summit.
Oil was up Thursday morning in Asia as the latest data showed a draw in US crude oil supplies to their lowest level since January 2020.
Brent oil futures were up 0.34% to $74.12 by 11:43 PM ET (3:43 AM GMT) and WTI futures gained 0.37% to $72.66. Brent and WTI futures both remained above the $70 mark.
Wednesday’s US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed a draw of 4.089 million barrels in the week to July 23. Forecasts prepared by Investing.com predicted a 2.928-million-barrel draw, while a 2.108-million-barrel build was recorded during the previous week. Crude oil supply data released a day before by the American Petroleum Institute showed a draw of 4.728 million barrels.
Gold futures rose 0.9% to $1,816.50/oz. In other precious metals, silver climbed 0.9%, palladium gained 0.6% and platinum rose 0.8%.