Oil prices are slightly higher today but have held onto the bulk of Tuesday’s sharp losses which were driven by global demand worries. Brent is 0.2% higher at $73.15/bbl after a low of $73.07, while WTI is up 0.3% to $69.11 after dipping below $69.00 briefly earlier. The USD index is 0.1% higher, which may be weighing on dollar-denominated crude.
- Concerns over the strength of China’s economy are ongoing but after weak US consumer confidence and other surveys, markets are worried that uncertainty and US trade policies are weighing on US sentiment and thus growth.
- The supply outlook is also highly uncertainty with it still not clear what the impact of sanctions will be on global exports. Russia and Iran have been able to avoid them by increased vessel-to-vessel transfers. OPEC and US production plans are also unknowns at this point.
- Bloomberg reported that US crude inventories fell 600k barrels last week after rising 3.3mn the week before, according to people familiar with the API data. Gasoline increased 500k, while distillate fell 1.1mn. The official EIA data is out later today. Inventories have been impacted by scheduled refinery maintenance and Canadian producers increasing flows to the US to beat tariff deadlines.
- Later the Fed’s Barkin and Bostic speak and January building permits/new home sales print. Also March German GfK consumer confidence is released.