Crude Oil

Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orban announced that he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Moscow to discuss crude oil and gas supplies to Hungary as well as peace efforts in Ukraine. Orban maintained close ties with Moscow despite war in Ukraine. Hungary remains heavily dependent on Russian energy despite European Union attempts to reduce dependence. Orban announced his plans to meet Putin via a Facebook video. He added, "I'm going (to Moscow), to make sure that Hungary's supply of energy is secure for the winter and in 2019." Orban replied, "We cannot avoid it." When asked whether...

Ankur Banerjee gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets Investors are experiencing a CME Group outage that affects currencies, commodities, and equity futures. This is a welcome addition to what had been a rather tepid trading session. CME Group platforms are very popular with currency traders, even though they can trade on other platforms. The newsroom has been flooded with conflicting comments. Either it's a "nightmare", or everyone should "calm down". If the outage extends into European hours expect more people to be concerned, especially those who are trying to balance their monthly...

CME Group, the exchange operator, announced on Friday that it had halted currency, stock futures, and commodity trading due to an issue with cooling in data centres. This has frozen major market benchmarks. CME issued a statement saying that markets were currently suspended due to an issue with cooling at CyrusOne's data centres. Support is working on a solution to the problem in the short term. Clients will be informed of Pre-Open information as soon as it becomes available. CyrusOne has not responded to a comment request immediately. CME's notice stated that the EBS foreign exchange platform was also shut...

The dollar fell on Thursday as traders began to expect a Federal Reserve rate cut next month. Meanwhile, the yen was in the spotlight with traders considering the possibility of a rate increase before the end the year. The holiday-shortened week has resulted in limited movements across the markets, with stocks maintaining a generally positive tone and currencies more sedate. The U.S. market is closed on Thanksgiving Day and will resume trading on Friday. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan rose 0.27%, following Wall Street gains and on track to end a three-week loss streak. Japan's Nikkei, and South...

The global stock market rallied on Wednesday for the fourth consecutive day as expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut were high. Sterling was also whipped around by Britain's Fiscal Watchdog accidentally publishing new forecasts prior to a UK Budget release. U.S. stock prices closed higher on Wall Street. The tech sector led the way, with a gain of about 1.5%. This was partly due to Dell Technologies' nearly 7% jump after its quarterly results. Since Friday, expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December have risen. This was after New York Fed president John Williams stated...

The global stock market advanced for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, as expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut were unchanged. Sterling was whipped around by Britain's Fiscal Watchdog accidentally publishing new forecasts prior to a UK Budget release. U.S. stock prices were up on Wall Street. The tech sector led the way, with gains of almost 1.5%, partly due to Dell Technologies' nearly 7% jump after its quarterly results. Since Friday, expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December have risen. This was after New York Fed president John Williams stated that interest rates could...

The Asian stock market rose on Wednesday as it followed Wall Street's gains. Weaker-than-expected data on the economy fueled expectations that Federal Reserve would cut interest rates during its next policy meeting. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan rose 1% after U.S. shares ended the previous session mildly up. Japan's Nikkei index gained 1.8% while U.S. futures stocks edged up by 0.2%. U.S. stock prices recovered lost ground following a selloff at the beginning of the month. The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose for the third day in a row on Tuesday, after data revealed...

Investors piled into technology stocks on Tuesday, despite concerns that the sector was overheating. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is on the verge of reaching a valuation of $4 trillion, making it the only fourth company in the world to do so. This shows that investors are confident the AI-fueled tech boom will continue. MSCI's All-World Index rose for the third consecutive day, lifting it off its two-month-lows from last week. Shares in Europe increased by 0.2%, and U.S. index futures were nearing positive territory. Bets on RISING RATE Cuts The yield on 10-year Treasury bills was unchanged at...

The oil prices fell on Tuesday, as fears that Russian shipments would remain under sanctions despite the inconclusiveness of talks to end Ukraine's war outweighed concerns about supply exceeding demand. Brent futures dropped 27 cents or 0.4% to $63.10 per barrel at 0500 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), which is a blend of crude oil from Texas, fell 23 cents or 0.4% to $58.61. The two crude benchmarks both gained 1.3% Monday, as rising doubts over a peace agreement to end the Russia/Ukraine conflict reduced expectations of an unrestricted flow of Russian fuel and crude oil supplies. These are...

Two sources familiar with the matter on Tuesday said that Binh Son refinery in Vietnam is expected to purchase 1 million barrels West Texas Intermediate crude oil in January. This will be its second purchase within three months, as it increases imports from the United States. Since Trump threatened to impose tariffs against Vietnamese products in April, Vietnam has sought to purchase more U.S. products to close the trade gap. Vietnam wants to import a variety of U.S. products, including farm produce, liquefied gas, aircraft, and crude oil. Sources said that Swiss trader Mercuria had sold the cargo of 1...

The oil prices remained unchanged on Tuesday, despite the fact that they had risen in the previous session. This was due to concerns about the supply exceeding demand in 2019. These fears outweighed the worries about Russian shipments remaining under sanctions if the talks to end Ukraine's war are unsuccessful. Brent futures dropped 17 cents or 0.3% to $63.20 per barrel at 0158 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), which is a blend of crude oil from Texas, fell 12 cents or 0.2% to $58.71. The two crude benchmarks rose 1.3% each on Monday, as a growing doubt about the...

On Monday, global stocks rose for the second consecutive session as expectations of a December rate reduction from the U.S. Federal Reserve helped calm recent concerns over stretched valuations in AI while yields on longer-dated U.S. Treasury bonds fell. The stock market dropped last week, with the largest percentage weekly drop since early August. This was due to a lack of optimism about the prospects of an interest rate cut. Other factors included the impact of the prolonged U.S. shutdown on the economy and the lingering concern over high valuations of AI-related firms. Stocks rallied by the end of last...

Asian shares will end a difficult November on a more stable footing as renewed hopes of a U.S. interest rate cut have helped calm valuation fears and Treasuries are rallying for the fourth consecutive month. The U.S. market, which was closed for Thanksgiving overnight, is due to have a shorter session on Friday. This means that activity will be more muted across all major asset classes than usual. The majority of European stocks were higher while currencies were more calm. In Asia, European stock futures rose by 0.1% while FTSE Futures rose by 0.2%. Wall Street futures, however, were affected...

The dollar fell on Thursday as traders began to weigh the possibility of a rate increase before the end of the year. Asian stocks also rose. The holiday-shortened week has resulted in limited movements across the markets. Stocks have maintained a generally positive tone, while currencies are more sedate. Investors have shrugged off AI bubble fears that had shaken equities early in November. The U.S. market is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday. It will reopen for a brief session on Friday. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan rose 0.4%, following Wall Street gains and on track to end a...

On Tuesday, global stocks rose and were on track for their third consecutive session of gains. Investors remained confident that the Federal Reserve will cut U.S. rates at its meeting in December, while U.S. Treasury Yields fell. Alphabet, Meta Platforms and other gains on Wall Street helped U.S. stock prices close higher. Google's parent company closed at $323.44, a record high. It is now close to $4 trillion market capitalization. This would make Google the fourth company in history to achieve this milestone. The Information reported Meta Platforms' 3.78% gain as the largest lift for the S&P 500. The company...

Investors piled into technology stocks on Tuesday, despite concerns that the sector was overheating. Investors believe that the AI-fueled tech boom will continue. MSCI's All-World Index rose for a 3rd day, lifting it off the two-month-lows of last week. Shares in Europe increased by 0.2%, and U.S. Stock Index Futures were either unchanged or slightly higher, after Monday's rally. RATE CUTTING BETS - RISING RATE The yield on 10-year Treasury Notes dropped nearly one basis point to 4.03%. Two-year yields, which are usually in line with traders’ expectations of lower Fed Fund rates, were stable at 3.49% in Europe after...

The Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday, as investors bought global technology stocks and shrugged off fears that the sector is becoming overheated. The broadest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 0.75%, led by tech stocks. This was a partial recovery of last week's losses of 4%. The index is set to post its first monthly drop since March. The European futures were down 0.2%, which indicates a soft opening. The yield on 10-year Treasury bills was unchanged at 4,038%. The two-year rate, which increases with traders' expectation of higher Fed Fund rates, was stable at 3,495% during...

China could help ease the tightness of diesel markets in Asia in December by increasing exports to compensate for lower shipments coming from Indian refiners due to sanctions against Russian crude. According to trading sources the exports of China's diesel could reach 4.5 million barrels by December as refiners make use of high margins to produce this transport fuel. If the December loading cargoes rise to the level expected, this would be the best month since August. It is also a big jump from the forecast of commodity analysts Kpler that November exports will total 2.76 million barrels. China has...

Investors began a week of events on a positive note on Monday as they took comfort in the growing expectation that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by December, even though policymakers are divided on such a move. The markets are preparing for possible catalysts. These include the release of U.S. retailer sales and producer price data, due later this week. Meanwhile, British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves will unveil her much-anticipated budget on Wednesday. Geopolitical events are also a focus. The U.S., Ukraine and other countries are working on a plan that will end the conflict with Russia. They have...

Investors began a week of events on a positive note on Monday as they took comfort in the growing expectation that the Federal Reserve will cut rates by December, even though policymakers are divided on such a move. The markets were preparing for possible catalysts. These included the release of U.S. retailer sales and producer price data, due later this week. In addition, British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves will also be releasing her highly anticipated Budget. After the United States, Ukraine and other countries announced that they had developed a "refined and updated peace framework" in order to end the...

By Anna Szymanski LONDON (November 21) What Mike Dolan, the ROI team and I are looking forward to reading, watching and listening to this weekend. The Nvidia boost was short-lived. The U.S. equity market fell on Thursday, despite an initial rally. Both the Nasdaq index and Dow recorded +1,000 points from the peak to the trough. The Nasdaq, which is dominated by tech stocks, saw its largest intraday movement since April's tariff tantrum. Nvidia's $57 billion record third quarter revenue, and its rosy outlook did not calm fears of an AI bubble. Jamie McGeever, ROI's markets columnist, explains that the...

European shares dropped on Friday as traders worried about the valuations of tech stocks. The U.S. employment data showed a mixed picture. This added to the traders' insecurity and diminished hopes that Federal Reserve would cut rates this year. Wall Street was led lower by technology stocks on Thursday, despite a positive report from Nvidia about its earnings. Fears of a market bubble fueled by AI were not dispelled despite the chipmaker's good news. Investors continued to dump riskier assets during Friday's Asian trade. At 1007 GMT the MSCI World Equity Index had dropped 0.5%, and was on course for...

In October, China's crude oil storage volumes likely increased as robust imports from China and domestic production outweighed an increase of refinery processing. According to calculations based upon official data, China's crude oil surplus was 690,000 barrels a day (bpd), up from 570,000 bpd a month earlier. China's rate of adding crude oil inventories to its reserves is seen as an important factor for the demand for crude oil in the world’s largest importer. It also adds uncertainty to price forecasts. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, data released on November 14, China's refineries produced 14.94 million barrels per...

JPMorgan reported on Thursday that around 1.4 million barrels of Russian oil per day, or about a third, of the country's potential seaborne exports, are still in tankers due to the U.S. sanction against Rosneft, and Lukoil. In the first sanctions that President Donald Trump has imposed directly on Russia since his second term began, the U.S. gave itself a deadline of November 21 to end all business with Rosneft or Lukoil. The sanctions have caused Lukoil to struggle, forcing the company to sell foreign assets, and disrupting operations in Iraq, Finland, and Bulgaria. According to trading sources, the overall...