Last week’s airstrikes in Yemen by the US and UK are prompting concerns about potential impacts on oil prices. Despite media portrayal of unrest, it is prudent to exercise caution before prematurely asserting a significant spike in oil prices. The 4% surge in crude oil futures on Friday falls within …
Read More »Markets experience hangover after Christmas rally
The first week of January proved to be a rollercoaster for financial markets, as conflicting economic data left investors grappling with uncertainty. After a robust Christmas rally, the markets faced a series of mixed signals, prompting a reevaluation of expectations for the year ahead. As the week concluded, the focus …
Read More »Russian stocks rebound after markets reopen
Russia’s stocks continued to rise sharply on Thursday as the Moscow Exchange reopened for limited trading this week, after suspending most of its transactions on February 28. The ruble-based MOEX benchmark went up more than 11% to 2,743 points. The dollar-denominated RTS index of leading Russian stocks was down slightly, …
Read More »Israel heads ‘hack simulation’ on global financial markets
Dubbed “Collective Strength” and carried out on Thursday, the international cyber drill was conducted alongside the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries, as well as major financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, according to the outlet. Treasury …
Read More »Oil markets get another bullish jolt as Saudi Arabia cranks up crude prices for global exports
In particular, Aramco increased pricing for its key Arab Light grade of crude for Asian customers in December to $2.70, up from $1.40. The world’s biggest oil producer set the Arab Light official selling price (OSP) to the United States at plus $1.75 per barrel over Argus Sour Crude Index, …
Read More »Speculation on European markets drives gas prices higher as the ‘Russia’s to blame’ game continues
The cost of November futures on the TTF hub in the Netherlands traded at $1,109 for a thousand-cubic-meter unit as of 07:00 GMT, or, in household terms, $107 per megawatt-hour. At its peak, the cost of the commodity reached $1,139 per thousand cubic meters. The crisis in the European gas …
Read More »Paying more for household bills? Blame Russia’s meddling in gas markets, Western commentators say, even if the facts don’t hold up
According to the pundits, consumers are set to pay more for household bills because of foul play from Moscow. Against the backdrop of Europe’s dependence on gas imports, Russia is said to be playing politics at the pumping stations and making energy supplies scarce. Clearly this isn’t just about the …
Read More »US imports from Russia surge 50% amid price rally in commodity markets
Commodity exports from Russia to the US in monetary terms totaled $11.5 billion, with purchases of oil and petrochemicals seeing a substantial growth of 78%. US imports of mineral fuels, oil, and petrochemicals nearly doubled from $3.8 billion to $6.7 billion. US imports of precious and semiprecious metals and stones …
Read More »Saudi Aramco profits nearly cut in half as pandemic woes cripple oil markets
The sharp slump in the company’s full-year net income totaled 44% compared to the previous year, when profits amounted to $88.19 billion. In 2018, the oil firm reported profits of $111.1 billion.The result was slightly below the projections of $48.1 billion, but is still the highest among the world’s public …
Read More »Yellen cheers ‘RESILIENT’ markets, calls for ‘timely study’ into GameStop craze, as Wall Street crushes Reddit rebellion
And lest amateur traders think they can take another run at the Wall Street establishment, Yellen and friends agreed on Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will need to quickly complete a study of the market tumult to find “whether trading practices are consistent with investor protection and …
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