Market Update

Global stocks fell on Thursday as recession concerns and the Russian-Ukranian war curbed demand for risky assets, while oil prices plunged over $5 on news that the United States may release some of its emergency oil reserves.With Thursday’s drop, US and European stocks are set for their worst quarterly performance …

The Biden Administration will release 1M barrels per day in oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) over the next six months, according to a statement released by the White House on Thursday. The White House statement continued that the President will call on Congress to pass his plan …

Annual inflation in the US rose to 5.4% in February according to the latest Core PCE Price Index reading released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday. That was a tad below the expected reading of 5.5% YoY, but above January’s 5.2% reading. The MoM gain in prices …

Initial Jobless Claims in the week ending on 26 March came in at 202,000, a tad above the expected reading of 197,000 and up versus the previous week’s 188,000 print. Continued Jobless Claims fell to 1.307M in the week ending on March 19, below the expected rise to 1.35M from …

Moody’s said it has withdrawn all credit ratings of Russia and designated Russian quasi-sovereign entities. The agency said it decided to withdraw the ratings for commercial reasons of its own. Last week, Moody’s announced its intention to withdraw its credit ratings for entities, following similar moves by global rating agency …

An OPEC + source said that the OPEC + Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee agreed to adhere to the current oil production policy and increase production by 432,000 barrels per day as of May. according to reuters.

European shares rose on Thursday, led by gains in automakers and defense sectors, while oil stocks tumbled, as a US plan to withdraw from strategic petroleum reserves sent crude prices down. The European index rose 0.2 percent, although oil stocks fell 1.5 percent. The FTSE 100 index in London rose …

Britain’s economy grew more than expected in the last three months of 2021, when a wave of Omicron infections hit the country. The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product in the world’s fifth-largest economy rose 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the previous …

Japan’s Nikkei closed lower on Thursday, posting its worst quarterly performance in two years. The Nikkei closed down 0.73 percent to 27,821.43 points. The broader Topix index fell 1.08 percent to 1,946.40 points. On a quarterly basis, the Nikkei lost 3.37 percent, its biggest decline since the quarter ending in …

Data from Canada’s energy regulator showed on Wednesday that the country’s imports of crude oil in 2021 fell to their lowest level in more than three decades as domestic supplies increased. The data indicated that imports fell about 20 percent in 2021 to 473,000 barrels per day, from 579,000 barrels …