Market Update

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after data showed the fifth consecutive weekly decline in U.S. crude inventories. The prospects of economic recovery and expectations for demand recovery are providing support for crude futures, with the global benchmark Brent restoring the $75 key level. The front month Brent crude futures for …

Gold prices rose on Wednesday and managed to finish net their highest level in about a week, supported by a muted performance by the U.S. Dollar (USD). Recent remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that pointed to no plans to raise interest rates just to combat inflation …

European stocks closed lower on Wednesday, after rising for two consecutive sessions, despite concerns about the Federal Reserve raising rates soon to combat inflationary pressures eased by Chair Jerome Powell. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell by 3.32 points, or 0.73%, to finish at 453.10 points. The French CAC40 index …

The U.S. Dollar (USD) has recovered some of its losses on Wednesday, after rising earlier in the Asian and European sessions. The Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback’s performance against a basket of six major international currencies, is down by 0.04% 91.72. Earlier today, the index fell as low …

Crude oil inventories in the United States declined by 7.6 million barrels last week, data showed on Wednesday. For the week ended June 18, gasoline stockpiles dropped by 2.9 million barrels, while distillate inventories increased by 1.8 million, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

New home sales in the United States declined in May by 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 769,000 units, official data by the U.S. Census Bureau showed on Wednesday. On an annual basis, sales increased by 9.2% last month. The number of homes available for sale by the …

The business activity in the US service sector continued to expand at a strong pace in June but lost momentum compared to May with the Markit Services PMI declining to 64.8 from 70.4 70 figure was expected. The Composite PMI fell to 64.9 in June from 68.7 in May.

The IHS Markit’s Manufacturing PMI for the US rose to 62.6 in June from 62.1 in May to a record high. This reading came in better than the market forecast of 61.4 and revaled that the business activity in the manufacturing sector continued to expand at an unprecedented pace.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies are considering boosting the group’s collective output by some 500,000 barrels per day when they meet next week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, according to Reuters

Retail Sales in Canada fell by 5.7% on a monthly basis in April, the data published by Statistics Canada showed on Wednesday. This reading followed March’s increase of 3.6% and came in worse than the market expectation for a contraction of 5%.