Crude oil maintained much of Friday’s gains as the U.S. data improved the outlook for demand and eased the worries of an early end of the Fed’s stimulus pushing the dollar index below the 82.00-mark, giving an extra support to oil prices. Eyes on are on Sudan, as it threatens to halt oil exports from South Sudan.
Markets have been on edge in the past few weeks, amid worries the U.S. Federal Reserve will reduce its stimulus program if the economy shows improvement. Friday’s jobs data showed that employers stepped up hiring but only by a little more than expected in May, showing that the economy is still in need of the Fed`s monetary support.
Oil prices also find support from the concerns about Sudan cutting oil exports from South Sudan. Sudan threatens to halt oil exports if its neighbor South Sudan will not stop backing rebels. This shows how unstable is this small oil producer which is of great significance for China and other Asian buyers.
- - Crude is trading at the time of writing around $96.00 a barrel after falling 0.02% or $0.02
- - Brent is trading around $104.60 a barrel after rising 0.04% or $0.04
Crude’s gains however may be limited on Monday, as the market seems to be well supplied while the outlook for demand is not so bright with key consumers for oil, mainly the United States and China, showing signs of economic weakness. China’s industrial production fell further in May to 9.2% while new Yuan loans fell to $667.4 billion.
Markets will closely watch this week Japan’s and New Zealand’s monetary policy decision, the U.K.’s, the eurozone’s and Australia’s employment reports, the eurozone’s industrial production and CPI, ECB’s monthly report and the U.S. consumer confidence and retail sales for signs on global economic strength.
- - Natural gas is trading at $3.835 per cubic feet, after rising 0.18%
- - Gasoline is trading at $2.8798 a gallon, after rising 0.29%
- - Heating oil is trading at $2.8986 a gallon, after rising 0.19%