Wednesday, 18 October 2017

What’s next? – GOLD, OIL 18.10.17

Posted by Valentine at 11:24 Labels:

GOLD

Gold futures were lower on Wednesday as speculation increased over the choice of President Donald Trump for the person to succeed Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Local media believes Stanford University Economist John Taylor, seen as more hawkish than Yellen, is currently regarded as the first option for the job.

Fed Governor Jerome Powell and former Fed official Kevin Warsh are also seen as potential candidates to replace Yellen when she finished her contract in February.

However, President Trump is set to meet with Yellen on Thursday and some experts pointed out that he could offer her to stay for a second term.

The US dollar index, which gauges the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was trading 0.08 percent higher by the time of this writing at 93.43.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures were trading 0.09 percent lower at $1,285.00 a troy ounce as of 08:13 GMT.

Today, market players will be paying attention to remarks from FOMC members Dudley and Kaplan at 12:00 GMT in search for hints over the future of monetary policy.

On the data front, building permits and housing starts will be available as of 12:30 GMT. The Federal Reserve will release its beige book at 18:00 GMT.

According to Fed funds tracked by CME Group’s FedWatch program, investors are pricing in more than a 90 percent chance of a 25 basis points interest rate hike by December.

Investors are also keeping an eye on China, where the Communist Party Congress has finally started. The event is set to bring key modifications to country’s economy and politics for the next five years.

OIL

Crude futures were higher in early trading on Wednesday as investors continued to speculate on a reduction of US crude stockpiles, which would be the fourth weekly decline in a row.

The US Energy Information Administration is set to release official weekly inventory data on crude and refined products as of 14:30 GMT, with a 4.7 million barrels decline seen.

Overnight, the American Petroleum Institute reported a massive 7.1 million barrels reduction in crude inventories for the week ended October 13.

Nevertheless, API estimates also displayed a 1.9 million barrels increase in gasoline stockpiles, as well as a 1.6 million barrels build in distillates. Data from the API and the EIA often diverge.

The US West Texas Intermediate crude contracts were up 40 cents, or 0.77 percent, to $52.28 per barrel as of 08:13 GMT, remaining close to a three-week high.

Meanwhile, international Brent futures added 35 cents, or 0.60 percent, to $58.23 a barrel.

Oil prices settled almost plain on Tuesday, taking a breather following a previous rally in the light of tensions between Iraqi and Kurdish forces near oil fields in Kirkuk.

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