Market Update

Oil prices rose Thursday, July 29, as crude inventories in the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer, fell to their lowest levels since January 2020, and Brent crude returned to above $75 a barrel. Brent crude futures were up 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $75.11 a barrel, and US …

European shares hit record highs Thursday, July 29 as strong earnings from big commodity companies, Airbus and others boosted markets positivity, while concerns over moves by regulators in China dispelled. The Stoxx600 index of European shares rose 0.3% to an all-time high of 463 points in early trading. The shares …

Japanese shares closed higher on Thursday, as Nissan Motor and some semiconductor companies reported surprisingly strong profits, while investors were relieved after the US Federal Reserve indicated it was in no hurry to cut monetary easing. The Nikkei rose 0.73% to 27,782.42 points, while the broader TOPIX index closed up …

US drugmaker Pfizer raised its forecast for sales of its 2021 vaccine against COVID-19 by 29% to $33.5 billion. The company said it believed people would need a third dose of the vaccine it developed with its German partner BioNTech to maintain a high degree of protection against the virus. …

Ford Motor Company raised its earnings forecast for this year after it announced a windfall profit, saying it was selling more expensive cars. Its revenue slightly missed expectations due to an ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips. Earnings per share were 13 cents, versus expectations of a loss of 3 …

Novatek, Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas producer, said Wednesday, July 28, that its net profit more than doubled to 99.3 billion rubles ($1.35 billion), citing a recovery in oil and gas prices and production volumes. Revenue jumped 83.7% to 264.5 billion rubles.

Facebook’s earnings in the three months ended June 30 beat expectations and posted the fastest revenue growth since 2016. But Facebook shares fell 5% in after-hours trading after the social media company said it expects revenue growth to slow in the coming quarters. And earnings per share came to $3.61, …

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) showed a mixed performance on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at a historically low level near 0%, vowing to continue to use its full range of tools to support the economy on the road to recovery from the coronavirus crisis. …

Oil prices rose on Wednesday to their highest level in about two weeks, on the back of positive expectations following the drop in crude inventories in the United States. The inventories draw eased concerns over a slump in demand resulting from the spread of the coronavirus Delta variant. Brent crude …

Gold prices finished Wednesday down ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve rate decision and moved lower after the release of the Fed’s policy statement amid a brief rise for the U.S. Dollar (USD). Taper talks had an immediate impact on the zero-yielding yellow metal, which remains relatively supported by inflation …