【Market Evening】Oil prices collapsed again? Gold futures rise above $1830

Oil prices fell again. US crude oil futures fell sharply again, and oil prices just fell below the $72 per barrel mark.

An OPEC+ representative said on Wednesday that the UAE has resolved the deadlock with OPEC+ and reached a compromise agreement that will set a new oil production quota.

The UAE agreed to a plan to increase its baseline production. Starting from May 2022, the new oil production baseline will be set at 3.65 million barrels per day, higher than the current 3.17 million barrels per day.

Suppressed by the news, oil prices were notable on Wednesday. US WTI crude oil August futures closed down 2.12 US dollars, or 2.82%, to close at 73.13 US dollars per barrel.

Oil prices continued their downward trend on Thursday, with oil prices hitting a minimum of US$71.68/barrel in early trading in the European market, which plunged nearly 2% in the day.

Most AP stock markets rose

The Indian stock market rose for three consecutive days, setting a record high, the Vietnamese stock market rebounded by about 2%, and the Bank of Korea maintained a easing stance to support the Korean stocks to close up 0.66%. However, affected by the worsening of the Tokyo epidemic, the Japanese stock market fell more than 1%, and the extended blockade in Sydney also dragged down the Australian stock market slightly.

The Nikkei 225 index fell 1.15% to close at 28279.09 points. Most sectors fell, led by mining, land transportation, and public utilities sectors, while steel stocks bucked the market and rose; the Hang Seng Index rose 0.75% to 27,996.27 points, an intraday gain of 1.42%.

Yesterday, the major US stock indexes were mixed. The S&P 500 index closed up 0.12% and the Nasdaq index fell 0.22%. However, Powell appeased the remarks to dispel investors' concerns about inflation.

USD fluctuates within a narrow range

The US dollar continues to oscillate within a narrow range and is currently trading around 92.40, while non-US currencies have not changed much. The yen led the rise in major currencies as the yield on US Treasury bonds fell from their highs earlier this week, and the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds fell 2 basis points today to 1.334%.

USD/JPY has fallen below 110.00 and is currently 109.83. The see-saw trend continues. Since yesterday, the overall risk sentiment has been relatively mild.

So far, even if there is a sharp contrast in tone between Powell and other central banks that plan to withdraw from ultra-loose policies at a faster pace, they have not pushed the major currencies out of the range of recent fluctuations against the US dollar.

"The market is still on an uncertain path," said Rodrigo Catril, a strategist at National Australia Bank. Investors are neither fully convinced that Powell can maintain ultra-loose policies, nor are they sure whether the trajectory of economic recovery will follow the mutation of the new crown virus. Change.

"The trend of different currencies seems to be dominated by the trend of the U.S. dollar," he said. "The trend of the U.S. dollar is also affected by the spread of data and delta mutation viruses. The full reopening of the United Kingdom is actually a major experiment. A huge factor affecting confidence and the market’s pricing of a broader sustained recovery, and this could weaken the U.S. dollar.”

Gold futures rise above US$1830

Futures gold is hovering near a one-month high after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell (Jerome Powell) hinted that the Fed will provide "strong support" to the economic recovery, despite inflation hitting a record high in decades.

Spot gold prices rose 4.26 US dollars, or about 0.23%, to 1831.62 US dollars per ounce.

Gold futures prices rose by US$7.45, or about 0.41%, to US$1832.45 per ounce.

The US dollar index futures, which measures the trend of the US dollar against six major trade-weighted currencies, fell 0.07% to 92.343.

On Tuesday, Powell reiterated at the House Financial Services Committee hearing that inflation is temporary and will maintain accommodative policies.

Regarding quantitative easing, he said that he would continue to buy bonds until there is substantial further progress in the job market. He also predicts that interest rates may remain close to zero until at least 2023. Powell will continue hearings in the Senate Banking Committee today.

ANZ Bank analyst Daniel Hynes said that although rising inflation has made investors continue to be uneasy, the Fed’s stance has soothed them and prompted them to continue to build (gold) positions.

The analyst said, "The current situation is conducive to further increases in the price of gold... But this wave of gains is not a charge type, but a very mild and gradual one."