AMERICAS OIL: US OIL: October 17 - Americas Midday Oil Summary: Crude Higher

Bloomberg report small upward revisions to the government's GDP growth forecasts for 2026 and 2027: 

• "*SWEDISH GOVT STILL SEES GDP GROWTH OF 0.9% IN 2025
• *SWEDISH GOVT SEES GDP GROWTH OF 3.1% IN 2026; SAW 3% IN AUG.
• *SWEDISH GOVT SEES GDP GROWTH OF 2.6% IN 2027; SAW 2.5% IN AUG.
• *SWEDISH GOVT UPDATES GROWTH FORECASTS IN WEBSITE STATEMENT" - bbg

It comes ahead of Monday's full presentation of the 2026 Budget Bill. See the MNI Preview published earlier today: https://media.marketnews.com/MNI_2026_Swedish_Budget_Preview_250917_d44c526621.pdf

• Stocks trade mixed ahead midday Wednesday, the DJIA outperforming weaker S&P emini and Nasdaq indexes, holding to generally narrow ranges in the leadup to the FOMC policy announcement at 1400ET.
• Currently, the DJIA trades up 319.32 points (0.7%) at 46078.41 (record high of 46137.20 on Sep 11), S&P E-Minis down 7.75 points (-0.12%) at 6659.75, Nasdaq down 118.5 points (-0.5%) at 22215.66.
• Information Technology and Communication Services sector shares underperformed in the first half: tech stocks under pressure after reports China authorities have banned the sale of Nvidia chips to top technology firms: Broadcom Inc -3.50%, Western Digital -2.95%, Palantir Technologies -2.94%, NVIDIA -2.72% and Oracle -2.66%.
• Interactive media and entertainment shares weighted on the Communication Services sector: Warner Bros Discovery -1.37%, Alphabet -1.33%, Meta Platforms -1.03% and Live Nation Entertainment -0.67%.
• On the positive side, Financial and Consumer Staples shares led gainers in the first half, banks and services stocks buoyed the former: American Express +2.57%, US Bancorp +2.31%, MSCI +2.19%, Citizens Financial +2.07%, W R Berkley +2.02% and Global Payments +1.91%.
• Meanwhile, retail sellers held modest gains  Dollar Tree +3.04%, Walmart +1.95%, Kenvue +1.93%, J M Smucker +1.67% and Brown-Forman +1.50%.

Two-way call flow ahead midday as underlying futures inching lower. Projected rate cut pricing cools slightly vs. early morning levels (*): Sep'25 at -25.8bp (-27.1bp), Oct'25 at -45.1bp (-46.4bp), Dec'25 at -67.2bp (-69.1bp), Jan'26 at -80.6bp (-82.9bp).

• +20,000 SFRV5 96.50 calls, 2.25 vs. 96.345/0.20%
• Block/screen -75,000 0QZ5 97.00/97.25 call spds, 10.0