US commercial crude oil inventories dropped -6.6m barrels in the week ending February 5, smaller than expectation of -0.9m barrels. At 469.0m barrels, oil inventories are just about 2% above the five year average for this time of year. Gasoline inventories rose 4.3m barrels. Distillate inventories dropped -1.7m barrels. Propane/propylene inventories dropped -4.5m barrels. Commercial petroleum inventories dropped -11.2m barrels.
WTI oil price rally continued this week and met 100% projection of 47.24 to 53.92 from 51.58 at 58.26 already. Though, upside momentum diminished mildly since then, as seen in 4 hour MACD. For now, further rise is still expected as long as 57.18 minor support holds. Sustained break of 58.26 will confirm underlying momentum. Some upside acceleration could then be seen to 161.8% projection at 62.38. However, break of 57.18 will indicate short term topping and bring deeper pull back.
Fed Powell: Far from a strong labor market despite surprising recovery
In a relatively dovish speech, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, “despite the surprising speed of recovery early on, we are still very far from a strong labor market whose benefits are broadly shared.” And, “even those grim statistics understate the decline in labor market conditions for the most economically vulnerable Americans.”
“Given the number of people who have lost their jobs and the likelihood that some will struggle to find work in the post-pandemic economy, achieving and sustaining maximum employment will require more than supportive monetary policy,” he added. “It will require a society-wide commitment, with contributions from across government and the private sector.”
Full speech here.