Oil prices spike on rebel attacks
Oil prices have spiked higher this morning after Iran-backed Houthi rebels unleashed a coordinated attack on Saudi Arabia oil facilities and military bases. With OPEC pursuing a tight oil policy and US shale oil inelastic supply response to higher prices, any disruption to the Middle East supply chain could shoot oil prices considerably higher. Indeed,…
Stocks still near record highs despite protests in Washington
It is astonishing we have made it through the morphing of the political shades with the stock market still trading near the high end of the historical ranges. Mind you; the political overhang could last a little bit longer as sentiment was getting soured and held back by protest in Washington overnight. There a growing…
Equity markets ride vaccine tailwinds
Investors channel their positive energies back toward the main tasks at hand: the vaccine taming the virus and restoring the economy’s health. US equity futures opened on a positive note this morning, still riding the vaccine tailwinds. Indeed, the vaccine enthusiasm booster shot remains the dominant narrative, even with surging infections across the US: now…
Markets to focus on payrolls and presidential debate
This week is all about payrolls and Presidential debates. But political malevolence and the torrent of global pandemic concerns continue to rattle on investors’ nerves. The doomy mood music’s soundboard remains tuned to growing concerns about rising Covid-19 case counts and whether policymakers have ammunition to react. In the US, this has centred on whether…
Market sentiment up in the air as central banks come into focus
As investors continue to follow the coronavirus pandemic track while awaiting news on a possible vaccine, the spotlight shines on central banks as they explore policy options amidst one of the most uncertain outlooks in decades. This week’s main highlight will come from the European Central Bank’s (ECB) latest monetary policy decision and President Christine…
Oil prices open higher after falls on Friday
WTI has opened up higher following the general risk mood after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the use of blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors to treat sick patients. There is some thought this could improve the therapeutics regime and help with survival rates Oil prices struggled Friday on weaker than expected PMIs…
Oil slips as gasoline stocks rise
Oil gave ground in early Asia after a report showed a disconcerting increase in gasoline stocks as OPEC+ returns more barrels to market in August. It’s challenging to make heads or tails out of the oil market these days. Other than to conclude that the most obvious fact is that the market is struggling to…
Gold tries to rebound but remains under pressure
Various fractals of pain continue to reverberate through markets this week as the most popular, yearly monthly, weekly, daily, and even possibly the most famous retail view of all time hit a brick wall at high velocity leaving many houses of pain in its aftershock. Overnight, gold rebounded above USD1,900/oz as the US dolled dipped…
Gold pulls back a little but holds above $2,000
Gold and silver pulled back on Friday but ended the week up sharply higher. The flight path for gold, which has been almost parabolic, infers some correction was possible. After President Trump’s executive order limiting business with Chinese-owned WeChat and TikTok apps, initially lent some support to bullion. But then the gold sell-off started in…
Enthusiasm over vaccines boost stocks
US stocks are off their early morning highs but still traded firmly as enthusiasm around positive news on progress in developing a virus vaccine and robust macro data continues to float markets in rough seas as the worsening outlook on the virus front continues to churn in the background. At one point, it was raining…
