Oil prices down on high US inventories
The bear market in crude started early October 2018 and is not ending. The 6 December 2018 OPEC meeting in Vienna will be a key event: the group of 15 could decide to either cut production in the range of 1.4 million barrels per day or stick with the current production plan. We expect oil prices to trade lower, with both Brent crude and WTI heading along 61.70 and 52.80 respectively.
Valued at 1-year low, crude prices continue falling, as US Energy Information Administration data came in on Wednesday with higher inventories, in a continued rise since mid-September. Worries of oversupply and subdued US sanctions against Iran have been weighing on crude prices. Brent and WTI futures continued falling after yesterday’s rise, declining by 1.68% and 1.50% respectively. Asian oil future prices are also dropping, declining 0.45%.
Asian markets higher at US Thanksgiving
Asian stock markets held to their gains and are on the way to close the week in positive territory. Despite lower volumes on Asian market due to the US Thanksgiving holiday, Chinese equities remained robust, with both Chinese mainland and Hong Kong indexes closing in opposite directions while European equities are on track for closing the week in the red. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index (-5% year-to-date) is now turning into neutral territory for the week, bouncing back from two consecutive drops amid the Renault-Nissan scandal and further risk aversion in the marketplace. China’s Hong Kong Hang Seng closed the day at +0.18% while Shenzhen CSI 300 dropped by -0.37%. South Korean KOSPI closed slightly lower at -0.32% and Australia’s ASX 200 continues to bounce back after reaching its lowest level in a year.
