US Crude Oil and Gasoline Inventories Declined, While Distillate Stockpile Rose Last Week
The report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that total crude oil and petroleum products stocks fell -3.94 mmb to 1185.58 mmb in the week ended March 30. Crude oil inventory declined -4.62 mmb to 425.33 mmb, amidst decreases in 4 out of 5 PADDs. Stockpile in...
China Announced Tariff on US Soybean Exports. What Next?
US-China trade friction aggravated as China on April 4 announced the second round of retaliation, immediately after US revelation of a list of about US$ 50B worth of made-in-China products that are subject to 25% tariffs. The first round of the retaliatory tariff, involving US$ 3B worth of US...
Stocks Staged Massive Rebound as Trade War Development Takes a Rest For Now
While the initial selloff in US stocks were steep, they quickly recovered and didn't look back. DOW made a massive 700 pts come back from session low at 2523.16 to close at 24264.30, up 230.94 pts or 0.96%. Nikkei followed and staged a strong 1.5% rebound. For now, the...
Markets Rocked by China’s Speedy and Intense Response to US Tariffs
US-China trade war is the dominant theme in the markets today. Initial reactions were muted to US announcement of the product list in Section 301 tariffs on China. However, global stock markets were rocked by China's immediate response of its own retaliation measures against the US. The speed of...
Dollar Lower as Battle 1, US-China Trade War Starts, But Other Markets Shrug Off
The US finally announced the list Chinese products to be tariffed in its Section 301 actions. China responded with strongly worded statement. But so far, market reactions are muted. After limited volatility, both Japan Nikkei and Hong Kong HSI are trading nearly flat at the time of writing. The...
Crude Oil Prices Supported by Inventory Draw and Russia’s Pledge to Fully Comply with Output Cut
Crude oil prices climbed higher for the second consecutive day as a report showing unexpected expected decline in US inventory. Meanwhile, Russia pledged that it would fully comply with the output cut deal this month. However, caution is advised over the promise as Russian oil output has reached the...
Euro Selling Gathers Momentum against Dollar and Canadian, EUR/USD Breaks 1.2285 Finally
EUR/USD finally breaks 1.2285 support with some momentum in early US session. That could be seen as a sign that the forex traders are finally back from holiday, and starting to commit on a position. Events earlier today were important, but non-market moving. PMI data from UK and Eurozone...
China’s First Renminbi Crude Oil Futures Unlikely Accelerates Currency Internationalization
On March 26, China launched its, and also the world’s, first renminbi-denominated crude oil futures. The debut appeared successful with 20M barrels of oil changed hands on average in each of the first two trading days. This represents 3% of combined WTI and Brent volumes on these days. The...
RBA Aware of Recent Rise in Yields
The April RBA meeting contained little surprise. Policymakers left the cash rate unchanged at 1.5% and made few changes in the policy statement. The central bank remained upbeat on growth and employment. Yet, it remained wary of the slow growth in wage. Meanwhile, the members took note of the...
Yen Pared Gains as Asian Markets Stabilized, Australian Dollar Steady after RBA
US equities suffered steep selling overnight with DOW losing -1.9%, S&P 500 losing -2.23%. NASDAQ was worst hit as tech rout continued and closed down -2.74%. While Asian equities opened lower and stay in red, selloff is relatively much milder. Nikkei hit as low as 21056.02 but at the...
Dollar Attempts to Extend Rebound on ISM Price Paid, But Failing So Far
Some volatility is finally see in early US session even though there is still a lack of follow through momentum. US equities open lower with DOW losing over 150 pts, back below 24000 handle at the time of writing. Dollar accompanies the fall in DOW with a rally attempt....
Traders Were Bullish on Petroleum but Turned Bearish on Natural Gas
CFTC Commitments of Traders
With the exception of natural gas, speculators were bullish over the energy complex in the week ended March 27. Net LENGTH for crude oil futures jumped +12 062 contracts from a week ago to 715 7708. NET LENGTH of heating oil gained +1 948 contracts to...
Hong Kong Dollar Weakest in Three Decades Due to Ample Liquidity
USDHKD has continued flirting slightly below 7.85, the weak end of its trading band. Since late-February, the market has been speculating about what and when the Hong Kong Monetary authority HKMA, the de facto central bank of Hong Kong, would do to maintain the peg. We judge that the...
Forex Markets Stay Quiet on Holiday Mood. RBA, ISM and NFP ahead
The forex markets are rather quiet today as most countries are still on holiday. Yen is trading generally lower but loss is limited so far. Japan Tankan survey posted some disappointing data but was shrugged off. Australian Dollar is also a touch weaker. Mixed data from China and the...
Markets Tread Water as Traders’ Minds are Already on Holiday
The forex market are starting to ignore economic data release today and tread water, just ahead of long weekend. Dollar is trading in black across the board for the week. But better than expectation job data doesn't the greenback a boost to extend its rally. Canadian Dollar also shrugs...
Dollar Rebound Lacks Conviction, Except Versus Aussie and Possibly Yen
Dollar jumps broadly overnight but it's rally is starting to lose steam again in Asian session. Instead, while Yen remains the weakest one for the week, it's starting to regain some strength. So far, the Japanese is not benefiting from risk aversion this week. Even though stocks attempted to...
Risk On Again as Stocks Futures Rebound on Facebook, Yen and Swiss Franc Dive
The pattern of risk on/risk off continues today. After opening lower, European indices pare back much losses with FTSE now back in black at the time of writing. US futures also point to slightly higher open. Tech stocks, who were the main reason of yesterday's selloff, recover mildly. Facebook's...
US- China Trade Tensions: Trump’s Soap Opera to Get Better Deal
Over the past months, US trade policy has been a major cause of the wax and wane of the financial markets. The White House has triggered a number of investigations under the rarely used 1972 US trade law since Trump took office. All investigations have resulted in tariff imposition,...
Euro Stays Strong after Volatility in Thin Holiday Markets
There was some volatility seen yesterday in the forex markets. But as dusts settled, Euro is staying as the strongest one for the week, followed by New Zealand Dollar and Sterling. On the other hand, Yen and Dollar are trading as the weakest one, followed not too far away...
Dollar Rebounds as Quarter End Position Squaring Starts, Stocks Lifted by Receding Trade War Fear
After being pressured initially, Dollar staged a strong come back European session. The greenback is now trading as the strongest one for day, followed by Canadian Dollar and then Yen. On the other hand, Sterling and Euro are suffering broad based selling together with Aussie. There is no apparent...