What’s next? – GOLD, OIL 29.03.17

GOLD
Gold futures fell in Asian hours on Wednesday as market participants prepared for a long-awaited formal application of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty later in the day. Negotiations between the UK and the bloc can take up to two years.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for April delivery dropped 0.48 percent to trade at $1249.60 a troy ounce as of 07:00 GMT.
The yellow metal closed mostly flat on Tuesday, remaining near one-month peaks as players shifted their focus to economic reports and speeches from FOMC officials in search for hints on the timing of the next Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
Earlier this week, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said that the US regulator is likely to continue on its path for monetary normalization and even four rate hikes were on the table if economic data supported the decision.
Gold futures have started the week with strong support as the Trump administration failed to get enough votes to push its healthcare bill in Congress, unveiling coordination problems between the President and its Republican party. The news increased concerns that other economic policies will face same fate in Congress unless the government changes its approach.

OIL
Oil futures moved higher in Asian session on Wednesday as disruptions to Libyan crude production prompt up prices after an industry report showed a larger-than-expected build in US stockpiles last week, while investors looked ahead of official figures in the day.
US West Texas Intermediate oil futures traded at $48.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 0.48 percent from its previous settlement. The international Brent crude oil futures rose by 0.41 percent to trade at $51.54 a barrel as of 05:05 GMT.
According to the American Petroleum Institute, crude oil inventories increased by more than 1.91 million barrels in the week ended on March 24, while gasoline stockpiles came down by 1.10 million barrels and distillates dropped by 2.04 million barrels.
The US Energy Information Administration will release its weekly official report on crude and refined products stockpiles at 14:30 GMT, with analysts seeing a 1.357 million barrels increase.
Meanwhile, Libyan crude output has come under significant pressure after armed groups blocked oil production in Sharara and Wafa, which accounts for 252,000 barrels per day.
In other news, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh anticipated that a joint output cut extension between OPEC and non-OPEC countries is possibly going to be renewed for another period.
The oil cartel, in collaboration with independent producers such as Russia, agreed to reduce global output levels by 1.8 million barrels per day during the first six months of 2017.

Fort Financial Services