Market Update

Thursday has been a uneven day for crude oil prices, as traders eye OPEC+ decision to hike concerning January production.The big news of the day was OPEC+’s decision to surprise markets by not choosing to halt output hikes in January but to press ahead with another incremental 400000 barrel per …

The Euro drops sharply during the New York session, down 0.08%, trading around the 1.1300s. In the last two hours, the market sentiment has been mixed. European stock indices finished the session in the red territory, contrarily of rising US indices across the pond. The NZD and the GBP are …

Eurozone government bond yields fell on Thursday as the new Omicron coronavirus variant dampened risk sentiment.European shares dropped after a recovery in stock markets overnight was wiped out when United States identified its first known COVID-19 case caused by the Omicron variant in a fully vaccinated patient. read moreThat news …

Raphael Bostic, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said on Thursday that the Fed is open to the possibility that maximum employment might be fewer jobs than before. Additional Comments:“Understanding what maximum employment is in the current environment will take some time.”“My interest rate path is to go …

Raphael Bostic, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said on Thursday that he would push for getting the QE taper over with sooner rather than later. Additional Comments:“We do need to be tapering bond purchases, have served purpose.”“Tapering will provide more optionality in 2022 on interest rate liftoff.”“If …

Continued weather-driven poor demand expectations keep pressuring natural gas futures in early trading Thursday as the market awaited the latest round of weekly government inventory data. The January Nymex contract was off 9.8 cents to $4.160/MMBtu.Estimates ahead of the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report, scheduled for today, point …

The economic recovery from a pandemic in the Eurozone is still incomplete and the recent inflation shock along with a new pandemic waves are endangering the rebound, European Central Bank policymaker Fabio Panetta said on Thursday.“The inflationary spike stemming from global supply shocks and the resurgence in the pandemic are …

The US dollar is expected to stay strong in 2022. EUR/USD and USD/JPY could trade at 1.10 and 120.00, respectively.Those expectations are based upon the idea that sharper Fed tightening cycle to push the dollar ahead. Assuming that Omicron risks play out closer to the benign end of the spectrum, …

Markets are awaiting the results of the OPEC meeting, as well as the US jobs report tomorrow. According to sources cited by Reuters, OPEC+ may as an option discuss hiking output by just 200K barrels per day (BPD) in January versus the current agreement which stipulates 400K BPD monthly output …

There were 222,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending November 27, data published by the US Department of Labor (DoL) revealed on Wednesday. This reading followed last week’s print of 194,000, revised from 199,000, lower than the market’s expectation for 240,000.