MARKETWATCH
"Oil prices log lowest finish in a week as constrained supplies come back on line"
By Myra P. Saefong, and William Watts
Last Updated: Oct. 12, 2020 at 3:08 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 12, 2020 at 8:52 a.m. ET
Crude-oil futures finished Monday at their lowest price in a week, with production in Libya, Norway and the Gulf of Mexico set to recover.
Libya lifted force majeure at its largest oil field, producers began restoring output in the Gulf of Mexico following Hurricane Delta, and crude output in Norway looked to recover following the end of an oil-worker strike.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery fell $1.17, or 2.9%, to settle at $39.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
December Brent crude lost $1.13, or 2.6%, at $41.72 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Front-month WTI, the U.S. benchmark, and global benchmark Brent on Monday both marked their lowest settlements since Oct. 5, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
With the passing of the hurricane and the resolution of the strike in Norway, “investors are more concerned about the higher output in the face of subdued demand,” said Mihir Kapadia, chief executive of Sun Global Investments, in emailed comments.
“However, more disruptions in the Gulf are likely in the coming weeks as the hurricane season continues."
"This could see prices increase again as workers will be expected to halt production during this time.”
Hurricane Delta hit Louisiana as a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of over 100 miles an hour on Friday.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimated Monday that 69.4% of oil output in the Gulf of Mexico remained shut in due to the storm, along with 47.1% of natural-gas production.
That’s a big improvement from Sunday, when 91.01% of oil output and 62.15% of natural-gas production were shut in.
Offshore output was returning in the aftermath of the hurricane, said Robbie Fraser, senior commodity analyst at Schneider Electric, in a note.
The year 2020 has seen “a record hurricane season with repeated disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico, and is expected to trigger some volatile inventory data over the next 1-2 weeks,” he said.
He also pointed out that weekly inventory data from the Energy Information Administration will be delayed to Thursday because of Monday’s federal holiday.
Norwegian oil producers and workers reached a wage deal on Friday, ending a strike that had curtailed output in the North Sea by more than 300,000 barrels a day and had threatened to further weigh on production this week.
Meanwhile, Libya’s state-owned National Oil Co. on Sunday said it had lifted force majeure at Sharara, its largest oil field, after a military commander lifted a monthslong blockade.
NOC didn’t disclose the current level of output at Sharara, which has a capacity of around 300,000 barrels a day, according to S&P Global Platts.
Bloomberg, citing a person with knowledge of the situation, reported that the field will initially pump 40,000 barrels of crude a day, reaching its capacity of almost 300,000 barrels a day next week.
That would roughly double Libya’s output and complicate efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to manage supply in the face of demand curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Petroleum products traded on Nymex followed oil prices lower, with November gasoline down 2.3% at $1.1757 a gallon and November heating oil losing 3% to $1.1571 a gallon.
Natural-gas futures, however, climbed sharply.
U.S. liquefied natural gas export facilities “saw minimal effects from Hurricane Delta over the weekend, while offshore production remains almost entirely shut in,” said Christin Redmond, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric.
November natural gas rose 5.1% to $2.881 per million British thermal units.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-p ... latestnews
THE DAILY NEWS
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
MARKETWATCH Market Snapshot
"Stock market books 4th straight gain ahead of earnings kick off"
By Sunny Oh, and Andrea Riquier
Last Updated: Oct. 12, 2020 at 4:50 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 12, 2020 at 7:28 a.m. ET
U.S. stock benchmarks finished sharply higher Monday as investors bought technology giants and shifted their focus to corporate earnings starting this week.
The moves come against the backdrop of the looming U.S. presidential election and stalled talks for another round of coronavirus stimulus.
Meanwhile, the bond market were closed Monday in observance of the Columbus Day holiday, also celebrated by many as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
How did major benchmarks perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 250.62 points, or 0.9%, to 28,837.52, supported by gains in Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
The S&P 500 added 57.09 points, or 1.6%, to 3,534.22 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 296.32 points, or 2.6%, to 11,876.26.
It was the fourth straight day of gains for all three benchmark indexes.
What drove the market?
With less than three weeks to the presidential election, investors are now focusing on the outlook for the Democratic Party controlling both the White House and Congress.
Though analysts initially viewed a Democratic victory as an impediment to further equity gains, market participants argue a large stimulus package could be in the cards next year if former Vice President Joe Biden, who has a large lead over Republican incumbent Donald Trump in the polls, presided over a landslide win in the November elections.
“In the past two weeks this narrative has completely flipped, to the point where investors now view a Blue Wave as being a catalyst for a reflation trade,” said Solita Marcelli, Americas chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, in a note.
Don Calcagni, chief investment officer with Mercer Advisors, agrees.
“The technology sector is doing well today, rather than value, and that is indicative of the fact that the market is not expecting a stimulus package before the election,” he said in an interview.
Calcagni believes the economy should be able to hold out a few more months without additional fiscal aid, but calls the first and second quarters of 2021 more of a question mark — especially given questions about vaccine availability and delivery.
“I think where the market wants and needs to go is toward lower-priced value and higher-quality stocks,” he said.
Prospects for another fiscal stimulus package appeared to dim, as Democrats over the weekend rejected a $1.9 trillion proposal from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, representing the Trump administration’s most generous aid proposal thus far.
“This past week, the president demonstrated very clearly that he has not taken the war against the virus seriously, personally or nationally."
"This attitude is reflected in the grossly inadequate response we finally received from the administration on Saturday,” wrote Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a Sunday letter.
“Until these serious issues are resolved, we remain at an impasse.”
During an interview with Fox News, President Donald Trump cast Pelosi as a point of resistance in getting additional help for out-of-work Americans and troubled businesses.
“Republicans want to do it."
"We’re having a hard time with Nancy Pelosi,” he said Sunday.
On-again-off-again negotiations over additional stimulus have been one of the main catalysts for the markets over the past few months.
A lack of fresh aid is forcing investors to turn to the next round of corporate earnings and the elections.
S&P 500 companies’ overall earnings performance are expected to be less-bad than the second quarter, when earnings fell the most since the 2008 financial crisis, according to FactSet data.
The aggregate blended year-over-year growth estimate per share, which includes some earnings already reported and the average analyst estimates of coming results, is for a negative 20.5% as of the end of last week, following a 31.4% plunge in the second quarter.
Investors may be more focused on the rate of change in the decline, rather than how far earnings are falling, MarketWatch’s Ciara Linnane and Tomi Kilgore report.
Large banks, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase & Co., unofficially kick off third-quarter earnings season Tuesday morning.
Separately, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe was forcing some reimplementation of lockdown measures.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to outline the restrictions in a statement to the public on Monday.
In Asia, China’s equity market were ebullient on optimism that President Xi Jinping is planning to further open parts of the economy to outside investment.
Which companies were in focus?
Bandwidth Inc. shares were up 4.8% after it announced Monday an agreement to buy Europe-based cloud communications company Voxbone.
Shares of Twilio Inc. jumped 7% after the communications software company announced a deal to buy customer data platform company Segment in a $3.2 billion stock deal.
Apple Inc. shares rose more than 6% ahead of its iPhone launch event on Tuesday.
Shares of Mallinckrodt Plc tumbled 31.2% in trading on Monday following the company’s announcement that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Shares of Carnival Corp. shed 2.7% after the cruise operator said it has decided to cancel the remaining cruises that operate from Port Miami and Port Canaveral for November.
DraftKings Inc. shares added more than 4% after an analyst price-target increase.
What did other markets do?
Mainland Chinese stocks jumped, with the Shanghai Composite rising 2.6%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.2%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Europe Index closed up 0.7%, while London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3%.
Oil futures fell $1.17, or 2.9%, to settle at $39.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, notching its lowest close in a week as production ramped back up across the globe.
With investors embracing riskier assets, gold rose $2.70 or 0.1% to settle at $1,928.90 an ounce on Comex.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback against its major rivals, was virtually flat.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-f ... od=markets
"Stock market books 4th straight gain ahead of earnings kick off"
By Sunny Oh, and Andrea Riquier
Last Updated: Oct. 12, 2020 at 4:50 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 12, 2020 at 7:28 a.m. ET
U.S. stock benchmarks finished sharply higher Monday as investors bought technology giants and shifted their focus to corporate earnings starting this week.
The moves come against the backdrop of the looming U.S. presidential election and stalled talks for another round of coronavirus stimulus.
Meanwhile, the bond market were closed Monday in observance of the Columbus Day holiday, also celebrated by many as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
How did major benchmarks perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 250.62 points, or 0.9%, to 28,837.52, supported by gains in Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
The S&P 500 added 57.09 points, or 1.6%, to 3,534.22 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 296.32 points, or 2.6%, to 11,876.26.
It was the fourth straight day of gains for all three benchmark indexes.
What drove the market?
With less than three weeks to the presidential election, investors are now focusing on the outlook for the Democratic Party controlling both the White House and Congress.
Though analysts initially viewed a Democratic victory as an impediment to further equity gains, market participants argue a large stimulus package could be in the cards next year if former Vice President Joe Biden, who has a large lead over Republican incumbent Donald Trump in the polls, presided over a landslide win in the November elections.
“In the past two weeks this narrative has completely flipped, to the point where investors now view a Blue Wave as being a catalyst for a reflation trade,” said Solita Marcelli, Americas chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, in a note.
Don Calcagni, chief investment officer with Mercer Advisors, agrees.
“The technology sector is doing well today, rather than value, and that is indicative of the fact that the market is not expecting a stimulus package before the election,” he said in an interview.
Calcagni believes the economy should be able to hold out a few more months without additional fiscal aid, but calls the first and second quarters of 2021 more of a question mark — especially given questions about vaccine availability and delivery.
“I think where the market wants and needs to go is toward lower-priced value and higher-quality stocks,” he said.
Prospects for another fiscal stimulus package appeared to dim, as Democrats over the weekend rejected a $1.9 trillion proposal from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, representing the Trump administration’s most generous aid proposal thus far.
“This past week, the president demonstrated very clearly that he has not taken the war against the virus seriously, personally or nationally."
"This attitude is reflected in the grossly inadequate response we finally received from the administration on Saturday,” wrote Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote in a Sunday letter.
“Until these serious issues are resolved, we remain at an impasse.”
During an interview with Fox News, President Donald Trump cast Pelosi as a point of resistance in getting additional help for out-of-work Americans and troubled businesses.
“Republicans want to do it."
"We’re having a hard time with Nancy Pelosi,” he said Sunday.
On-again-off-again negotiations over additional stimulus have been one of the main catalysts for the markets over the past few months.
A lack of fresh aid is forcing investors to turn to the next round of corporate earnings and the elections.
S&P 500 companies’ overall earnings performance are expected to be less-bad than the second quarter, when earnings fell the most since the 2008 financial crisis, according to FactSet data.
The aggregate blended year-over-year growth estimate per share, which includes some earnings already reported and the average analyst estimates of coming results, is for a negative 20.5% as of the end of last week, following a 31.4% plunge in the second quarter.
Investors may be more focused on the rate of change in the decline, rather than how far earnings are falling, MarketWatch’s Ciara Linnane and Tomi Kilgore report.
Large banks, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase & Co., unofficially kick off third-quarter earnings season Tuesday morning.
Separately, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe was forcing some reimplementation of lockdown measures.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was expected to outline the restrictions in a statement to the public on Monday.
In Asia, China’s equity market were ebullient on optimism that President Xi Jinping is planning to further open parts of the economy to outside investment.
Which companies were in focus?
Bandwidth Inc. shares were up 4.8% after it announced Monday an agreement to buy Europe-based cloud communications company Voxbone.
Shares of Twilio Inc. jumped 7% after the communications software company announced a deal to buy customer data platform company Segment in a $3.2 billion stock deal.
Apple Inc. shares rose more than 6% ahead of its iPhone launch event on Tuesday.
Shares of Mallinckrodt Plc tumbled 31.2% in trading on Monday following the company’s announcement that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Shares of Carnival Corp. shed 2.7% after the cruise operator said it has decided to cancel the remaining cruises that operate from Port Miami and Port Canaveral for November.
DraftKings Inc. shares added more than 4% after an analyst price-target increase.
What did other markets do?
Mainland Chinese stocks jumped, with the Shanghai Composite rising 2.6%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.2%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Europe Index closed up 0.7%, while London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3%.
Oil futures fell $1.17, or 2.9%, to settle at $39.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, notching its lowest close in a week as production ramped back up across the globe.
With investors embracing riskier assets, gold rose $2.70 or 0.1% to settle at $1,928.90 an ounce on Comex.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback against its major rivals, was virtually flat.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-f ... od=markets
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
MARKETWATCH Bond Report
"10-year Treasury yield sees biggest drop in 4 months on pause to drugmakers’ clinical trials"
By Sunny Oh
Last Updated: Oct. 13, 2020 at 3:39 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 13, 2020 at 8:49 a.m. ET
U.S. Treasury yields fell Tuesday after U.S. drugmakers reported setbacks to their efforts to develop a remedy for the deadly COVID-19 disease.
What are Treasurys doing?
The 10-year Treasury note yield slid 4.9 basis points to 0.726%, its biggest daily drop since June 11, while the 2-year note rate edged 1.4 basis points down to 0.139%.
The 30-year bond yield slipped 6 basis points to 1.513%, marking its biggest one-day drop since July 9.
Bond prices move inversely to yields.
What’s driving Treasurys?
U.S. drugmaker Johnson & Johnson said late Monday it had paused a clinical trial for its coronavirus vaccine after one of its participants succumbed to an “unexplained illness.”
The drugmaker noted such pauses were not uncommon during clinical trials.
Eli Lilly also paused the trial of its coronavirus antibody treatment.
The delays for U.S. drugmakers weighed on equities to the benefit of haven assets like government bonds.
Without an effective therapeutic or vaccine, investors worry the global economic recovery will remain a tough slog next year.
In U.S. economic data, the consumer price index for September rose 0.2%, in line with the consensus estimate.
What did market participants say?
“The risk-off tone was credited to reports suggesting the progress toward a Covid-19 vaccine won’t be as direct as hoped; although the J&J and Eli Lilly decisions to pause their trials haven’t materially altered the path of the pandemic but rather simply served to reiterate the challenges of transitioning to a novel normal,” said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-t ... od=markets
"10-year Treasury yield sees biggest drop in 4 months on pause to drugmakers’ clinical trials"
By Sunny Oh
Last Updated: Oct. 13, 2020 at 3:39 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 13, 2020 at 8:49 a.m. ET
U.S. Treasury yields fell Tuesday after U.S. drugmakers reported setbacks to their efforts to develop a remedy for the deadly COVID-19 disease.
What are Treasurys doing?
The 10-year Treasury note yield slid 4.9 basis points to 0.726%, its biggest daily drop since June 11, while the 2-year note rate edged 1.4 basis points down to 0.139%.
The 30-year bond yield slipped 6 basis points to 1.513%, marking its biggest one-day drop since July 9.
Bond prices move inversely to yields.
What’s driving Treasurys?
U.S. drugmaker Johnson & Johnson said late Monday it had paused a clinical trial for its coronavirus vaccine after one of its participants succumbed to an “unexplained illness.”
The drugmaker noted such pauses were not uncommon during clinical trials.
Eli Lilly also paused the trial of its coronavirus antibody treatment.
The delays for U.S. drugmakers weighed on equities to the benefit of haven assets like government bonds.
Without an effective therapeutic or vaccine, investors worry the global economic recovery will remain a tough slog next year.
In U.S. economic data, the consumer price index for September rose 0.2%, in line with the consensus estimate.
What did market participants say?
“The risk-off tone was credited to reports suggesting the progress toward a Covid-19 vaccine won’t be as direct as hoped; although the J&J and Eli Lilly decisions to pause their trials haven’t materially altered the path of the pandemic but rather simply served to reiterate the challenges of transitioning to a novel normal,” said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-t ... od=markets
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
MARKETWATCH
"Biggest spike in used-vehicle prices in 51 years nudges U.S. inflation higher in September, CPI shows"
By Jeffry Bartash
Last Updated: Oct. 13, 2020 at 3:52 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 13, 2020 at 9:01 a.m. ET
The numbers:
Consumer inflation rose in September at the slowest pace in four months, suggesting the shock from the coronavirus pandemic on the price of goods and services is starting to fade.
Most of the increase last month was tied to the biggest jump in the cost of used cars and trucks in 51 years.
The consumer price index rose 0.2% last month, the Labor Department said Tuesday, matching the MarketWatch forecast.
It was the smallest increase since since May.
Consumer inflation sank early in the coronavirus pandemic, then snapped back after the economy reopened, but it might be settling into a more stable pattern.
The cost of living has risen just 1.4% in the past year, up a tick from the prior month.
The broad rate of inflation is still quite low with the coronavirus continuing to depress economies around the world.
By contrast, inflation was running at a much higher 2.5% rate at the start of 2020.
What happened:
The cost of used cars and trucks jumped 6.7% in September, posting the biggest increase since 1969.
Used-vehicles prices surged over the summer, probably because so few people were using public transportation while the coronavirus was spreading.
The cost of natural gas also shot up 4.2%, pushing overall energy prices higher.
Yet the rise in the cost of most other goods and services were muted.
Gasoline prices, for example, edged up just 0.1%, the smallest increase since the economy reopened in May.
Rents also rose just 0.1% and the cost of medical care was unchanged.
Grocery prices, meanwhile, declined for the third straight month after a big runup in the first several months of the pandemic.
The cost of airline tickets, clothing, home furnishings and auto insurance also fell.
Another closely watched measure of inflation that strips out food and energy, known as the core rate, also rose 0.2% last month.
The yearly increase in core CPI was unchanged at 1.7%.
Big picture:
Inflation rebounded more rapidly than expected during the summer after slumping when the pandemic struck in March.
Yet prices are unlikely to rise much faster until the economy gets stronger and demand picks up.
Many companies have had to cut prices to entice customers to spend in a time of such high economic uncertainty.
What they are saying?
“Inflation plunged, then partially rebounded, with the collapse of demand in the first half of this year and the rapid, partial rebound in the third quarter,” wrote chief economist Chris Low of FHN Financial in a note to clients.
“From here … the ongoing elevated unemployment rate, reflecting elevated excess productive capacity globally, will keep inflation down in the next few years.”
Market reaction:
The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 fell in Tuesday trades.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/consu ... latestnews
"Biggest spike in used-vehicle prices in 51 years nudges U.S. inflation higher in September, CPI shows"
By Jeffry Bartash
Last Updated: Oct. 13, 2020 at 3:52 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 13, 2020 at 9:01 a.m. ET
The numbers:
Consumer inflation rose in September at the slowest pace in four months, suggesting the shock from the coronavirus pandemic on the price of goods and services is starting to fade.
Most of the increase last month was tied to the biggest jump in the cost of used cars and trucks in 51 years.
The consumer price index rose 0.2% last month, the Labor Department said Tuesday, matching the MarketWatch forecast.
It was the smallest increase since since May.
Consumer inflation sank early in the coronavirus pandemic, then snapped back after the economy reopened, but it might be settling into a more stable pattern.
The cost of living has risen just 1.4% in the past year, up a tick from the prior month.
The broad rate of inflation is still quite low with the coronavirus continuing to depress economies around the world.
By contrast, inflation was running at a much higher 2.5% rate at the start of 2020.
What happened:
The cost of used cars and trucks jumped 6.7% in September, posting the biggest increase since 1969.
Used-vehicles prices surged over the summer, probably because so few people were using public transportation while the coronavirus was spreading.
The cost of natural gas also shot up 4.2%, pushing overall energy prices higher.
Yet the rise in the cost of most other goods and services were muted.
Gasoline prices, for example, edged up just 0.1%, the smallest increase since the economy reopened in May.
Rents also rose just 0.1% and the cost of medical care was unchanged.
Grocery prices, meanwhile, declined for the third straight month after a big runup in the first several months of the pandemic.
The cost of airline tickets, clothing, home furnishings and auto insurance also fell.
Another closely watched measure of inflation that strips out food and energy, known as the core rate, also rose 0.2% last month.
The yearly increase in core CPI was unchanged at 1.7%.
Big picture:
Inflation rebounded more rapidly than expected during the summer after slumping when the pandemic struck in March.
Yet prices are unlikely to rise much faster until the economy gets stronger and demand picks up.
Many companies have had to cut prices to entice customers to spend in a time of such high economic uncertainty.
What they are saying?
“Inflation plunged, then partially rebounded, with the collapse of demand in the first half of this year and the rapid, partial rebound in the third quarter,” wrote chief economist Chris Low of FHN Financial in a note to clients.
“From here … the ongoing elevated unemployment rate, reflecting elevated excess productive capacity globally, will keep inflation down in the next few years.”
Market reaction:
The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 fell in Tuesday trades.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/consu ... latestnews
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
MARKETWATCH Market Snapshot
"Dow, S&P 500 breaks four-day win streak as J&J and Eli Lilly pause COVID-19 drug trials"
By William Watts, and Sunny Oh
Last Updated: Oct. 13, 2020 at 4:22 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 13, 2020 at 7:41 a.m. ET
U.S. stocks ended slightly lower in a choppy Tuesday session as investors saw some U.S. drugmakers face setbacks in vaccine or treatment trials for COVID-19.
Wall Street participants also parsed earnings from some of the biggest financial institutions, to start the third-quarter reporting season.
How are stock benchmarks performing?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell157.71 points or 0.55% to 28679.81, while the S&P 500 fell 22.29 points or 0.63% to 3,511.93.
The Nasdaq Composite edged 12.36 points lower, or 0.1%, to close at 11,863.90.
All three major equity benchmarks snapped four-day winning streaks.
On Monday, the Dow rose 250.62 points, or 0.9%, to 28,837.52.
The S&P 500 added 57.09 points, or 1.6%, to 3,534.22 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 296.32 points, or 2.6%, to 11,876.26.
It was the fourth straight day of gains for all three benchmark indexes.
What’s driving the market?
Wall Street saw some signs that the U.S. pharmaceutical industry was facing challenges in its pursuit of a remedy for COVID-19, which has infected more than 37 million people globally so far, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.
Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson announced a pause of all of its COVID-19 vaccine trials.
And a clinical trial for a coronavirus antibody treatment made by Eli Lilly was paused because of a “potential safety concern.”
Investors were also digesting earnings results from JPMorgan Chase, which produced better-than-expected earnings but delivered slightly weaker-than-expected revenues.
The nation’s largest bank said Tuesday it had net income of $9.443 billion, or $2.92 a share in the third quarter, compared with $9.080 billion, or $2.68 a share, in the year-earlier period.
However, revenue fell to $29.941 billion from $30.014 billion.
The main reason for the surge in EPS was a fall in loan loss provisions which dropped by 90% to only $611 million.
“I look at the [fall in loan loss reverses] as a positive, but markets are suggesting a more different view,” said Kent Engelke, chief economic strategist at Capitol Securities, in an interview.
Setting aside less cash in case of future losses suggests bankers were predicting decreased distress in the economy and businesses in the coming months, added Engelke.
Citigroup Inc. reported third-quarter profit and revenue that topped expectations.
BlackRock Inc. said that its quarterly profit rose by 22% as investors flocked to its suite of investment funds amid a volatile period, but a mostly dramatic rise, in equity markets.
Beyond corporate earnings, the kick off of Amazon.com‘s two-day sales event and the launch of Apple Inc.’s new iPhone roster of 5G-compatible phones drew attention, as investors assess how consumers respond in the era of a pandemic that has weakened the economy.
Stalled talks in Congress around another package of coronavirus financial assistance also were on the minds of market participants and come against the backdrop of reports of the smallest increase in new coronavirus infections in a week in the U.S.
“On the political front, not much is changing as [Democratic challenger Joe] Biden continues to hold a considerable lead [over President Donald Trump] nationally as well as in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin,” said Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at StoneX, in a note.
Investors have become comfortable with the potential for a Democratic party sweep of both the White House and Congress on expectations that such an outcome would lead to a larger, near-term fiscal stimulus package early next year, analysts said.
“The latest stimulus narrative suggests nothing in the near-term but the prospects of the ‘Blue Wave’ certainly paves the way for larger, future stimulus."
"In the meantime, the markets appear to be balancing COVID concerns with the political outlook and the prospects of stimulus,” Abbasi said.
Meanwhile, hospitals in some parts of the country are seeing a rise in the number of coronavirus patients ahead of the winter flu season.
U.S. hospitalizations are at the highest level since Sept. 2, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In economic data, the September consumer-price index rose 0.2%
Which stocks are in focus?
Shares of JPMorgan Chase fell 1.6% after it announced third-quarter results.
Walt Disney Co. shares jumped 3.2% Tuesday after the entertainment giant late Monday announced a strategic reorganization of its media and entertainment businesses to focus on streaming.
Amazon.com shares were flat as the company is expected to generate some $10 billion in sales from its Prime Day sales event, experts say.
Apple Inc. shares fell 2.7%.
Shares of J&J closed 2.3% lower after the company announced the pause of its COVID-19 trial.
BlackRock‘s stock rose 3.9% after its results.
Citigroup shares slid 4.9% after its earnings release.
Shares of Eli Lilly slipped 2.9%.
What are other markets doing?
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 4.9 basis points to 0.726%, marking its biggest daily drop in around 4 months.
Yields and bond prices move in opposite directions.
In global equities, the Shanghai Composite rose marginally, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.4%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Europe index fell around 0.6% and London’s FTSE 100 stock index lost 0.5%.
Oil futures bounced gaining 77 cents, or 1.95% to settle at $40.20 per barrel after data showed a rise in Chinese crude imports.
December gold futures fell by $34.30, or 1.8%, to settle at $1,894.60 an ounce, after posting gains in each of the past three trading sessions.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, was up 0.5%.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-f ... _headlines
"Dow, S&P 500 breaks four-day win streak as J&J and Eli Lilly pause COVID-19 drug trials"
By William Watts, and Sunny Oh
Last Updated: Oct. 13, 2020 at 4:22 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 13, 2020 at 7:41 a.m. ET
U.S. stocks ended slightly lower in a choppy Tuesday session as investors saw some U.S. drugmakers face setbacks in vaccine or treatment trials for COVID-19.
Wall Street participants also parsed earnings from some of the biggest financial institutions, to start the third-quarter reporting season.
How are stock benchmarks performing?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell157.71 points or 0.55% to 28679.81, while the S&P 500 fell 22.29 points or 0.63% to 3,511.93.
The Nasdaq Composite edged 12.36 points lower, or 0.1%, to close at 11,863.90.
All three major equity benchmarks snapped four-day winning streaks.
On Monday, the Dow rose 250.62 points, or 0.9%, to 28,837.52.
The S&P 500 added 57.09 points, or 1.6%, to 3,534.22 while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 296.32 points, or 2.6%, to 11,876.26.
It was the fourth straight day of gains for all three benchmark indexes.
What’s driving the market?
Wall Street saw some signs that the U.S. pharmaceutical industry was facing challenges in its pursuit of a remedy for COVID-19, which has infected more than 37 million people globally so far, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.
Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson announced a pause of all of its COVID-19 vaccine trials.
And a clinical trial for a coronavirus antibody treatment made by Eli Lilly was paused because of a “potential safety concern.”
Investors were also digesting earnings results from JPMorgan Chase, which produced better-than-expected earnings but delivered slightly weaker-than-expected revenues.
The nation’s largest bank said Tuesday it had net income of $9.443 billion, or $2.92 a share in the third quarter, compared with $9.080 billion, or $2.68 a share, in the year-earlier period.
However, revenue fell to $29.941 billion from $30.014 billion.
The main reason for the surge in EPS was a fall in loan loss provisions which dropped by 90% to only $611 million.
“I look at the [fall in loan loss reverses] as a positive, but markets are suggesting a more different view,” said Kent Engelke, chief economic strategist at Capitol Securities, in an interview.
Setting aside less cash in case of future losses suggests bankers were predicting decreased distress in the economy and businesses in the coming months, added Engelke.
Citigroup Inc. reported third-quarter profit and revenue that topped expectations.
BlackRock Inc. said that its quarterly profit rose by 22% as investors flocked to its suite of investment funds amid a volatile period, but a mostly dramatic rise, in equity markets.
Beyond corporate earnings, the kick off of Amazon.com‘s two-day sales event and the launch of Apple Inc.’s new iPhone roster of 5G-compatible phones drew attention, as investors assess how consumers respond in the era of a pandemic that has weakened the economy.
Stalled talks in Congress around another package of coronavirus financial assistance also were on the minds of market participants and come against the backdrop of reports of the smallest increase in new coronavirus infections in a week in the U.S.
“On the political front, not much is changing as [Democratic challenger Joe] Biden continues to hold a considerable lead [over President Donald Trump] nationally as well as in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin,” said Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at StoneX, in a note.
Investors have become comfortable with the potential for a Democratic party sweep of both the White House and Congress on expectations that such an outcome would lead to a larger, near-term fiscal stimulus package early next year, analysts said.
“The latest stimulus narrative suggests nothing in the near-term but the prospects of the ‘Blue Wave’ certainly paves the way for larger, future stimulus."
"In the meantime, the markets appear to be balancing COVID concerns with the political outlook and the prospects of stimulus,” Abbasi said.
Meanwhile, hospitals in some parts of the country are seeing a rise in the number of coronavirus patients ahead of the winter flu season.
U.S. hospitalizations are at the highest level since Sept. 2, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In economic data, the September consumer-price index rose 0.2%
Which stocks are in focus?
Shares of JPMorgan Chase fell 1.6% after it announced third-quarter results.
Walt Disney Co. shares jumped 3.2% Tuesday after the entertainment giant late Monday announced a strategic reorganization of its media and entertainment businesses to focus on streaming.
Amazon.com shares were flat as the company is expected to generate some $10 billion in sales from its Prime Day sales event, experts say.
Apple Inc. shares fell 2.7%.
Shares of J&J closed 2.3% lower after the company announced the pause of its COVID-19 trial.
BlackRock‘s stock rose 3.9% after its results.
Citigroup shares slid 4.9% after its earnings release.
Shares of Eli Lilly slipped 2.9%.
What are other markets doing?
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 4.9 basis points to 0.726%, marking its biggest daily drop in around 4 months.
Yields and bond prices move in opposite directions.
In global equities, the Shanghai Composite rose marginally, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 0.4%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Europe index fell around 0.6% and London’s FTSE 100 stock index lost 0.5%.
Oil futures bounced gaining 77 cents, or 1.95% to settle at $40.20 per barrel after data showed a rise in Chinese crude imports.
December gold futures fell by $34.30, or 1.8%, to settle at $1,894.60 an ounce, after posting gains in each of the past three trading sessions.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, was up 0.5%.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-f ... _headlines
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
MARKETWATCH
"Oil ends higher after sharp jump in Chinese imports"
By Myra P. Saefong, and William Watts
Last Updated: Oct. 13, 2020 at 2:59 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 13, 2020 at 8:08 a.m. ET
Oil futures finished higher on Tuesday, with U.S. prices reclaiming the $40 mark a day after settling at their lowest in a week, as data showed a jump in Chinese crude imports.
“Chinese crude oil imports rose to the equivalent of 11.8 million barrels per day in September, putting them 2% up on the previous month,” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank, in a note.
“The anticipated cooling following the buying spree in the (early) summer has yet to materialize, in other words,” he said.
“Chinese crude oil imports were 12.7% up year-over-year in the first nine months.”
However, Fritsch argued the strong Chinese demand is unlikely to offset a range of bearish factors over the longer run.
These include a sharp jump in Libyan crude production as its largest oil field comes back online, which could double the country’s crude production to 650,000 barrels a day within a few weeks, he said.
The end of a Norwegian oil strike and the return of production in the Gulf of Mexico were also credited for Monday’s crude selloff.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery rose 77 cents, or nearly 2%, to settle at $40.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The global benchmark, December Brent crude, tacked on 73 cents, or almost 1.8%, to $42.45 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
“WTI may be holding above $40 for now but I don’t expect that to last,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a Tuesday note.
“It was given a bump by Hurricane Delta and strikes in Norway, but both of those risks have passed and Libyan output is rising.”
As of Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimated that 43.57% of Gulf oil output was shut in.
That’s an improvement from 69.4% on Monday.
“Heading into a tough period for the global economy when restrictions are going to become more severe, the outlook for oil isn’t great,” said Erlam.
In a monthly report Tuesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries left its outlook for 2020 oil demand relatively unchanged, penciling in a decline of 9.5 million barrels a day, year on year, to reach 90.3 million barrels a day.
For 2021, however, OPEC revised demand lower by 80,000 barrels a day, forecasting growth of 6.5 million barrels a day to reach 96.8 million barrels per day, with the cut largely reflecting a lower growth outlook for both developed and emerging market regions compared to the September forecast.
Separately, the annual World Energy Outlook report from the International Energy Agency released Tuesday said that global energy demand is expected to rebound to its pre-crisis level in early 2023, under a scenario in which COVID-19 is brought under control in 2021 and the global economy returns to pre-crisis levels that year.
Weekly data on U.S. petroleum supplies will be released by the Energy Information Administration on Thursday, a day later than usual because of Monday’s U.S. federal holiday.
On average, domestic crude supplies are expected to post a decline of 2.3 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 9, according to a survey of analysts by S&P Global Platts.
The survey also showed expectations for supply declines of 1.8 million barrels for gasoline and 2.5 million barrels for distillates, which include heating oil.
On Nymex Tuesday, November gasoline rose 0.6% to $1.1827 a gallon and November heating oil added 1% to $1.169 a gallon.
November natural gas fell by 0.9% to $2.855 per million British thermal units, after scoring a gain of 5.1% on Monday.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-b ... 1602590892
"Oil ends higher after sharp jump in Chinese imports"
By Myra P. Saefong, and William Watts
Last Updated: Oct. 13, 2020 at 2:59 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 13, 2020 at 8:08 a.m. ET
Oil futures finished higher on Tuesday, with U.S. prices reclaiming the $40 mark a day after settling at their lowest in a week, as data showed a jump in Chinese crude imports.
“Chinese crude oil imports rose to the equivalent of 11.8 million barrels per day in September, putting them 2% up on the previous month,” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank, in a note.
“The anticipated cooling following the buying spree in the (early) summer has yet to materialize, in other words,” he said.
“Chinese crude oil imports were 12.7% up year-over-year in the first nine months.”
However, Fritsch argued the strong Chinese demand is unlikely to offset a range of bearish factors over the longer run.
These include a sharp jump in Libyan crude production as its largest oil field comes back online, which could double the country’s crude production to 650,000 barrels a day within a few weeks, he said.
The end of a Norwegian oil strike and the return of production in the Gulf of Mexico were also credited for Monday’s crude selloff.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery rose 77 cents, or nearly 2%, to settle at $40.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The global benchmark, December Brent crude, tacked on 73 cents, or almost 1.8%, to $42.45 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
“WTI may be holding above $40 for now but I don’t expect that to last,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a Tuesday note.
“It was given a bump by Hurricane Delta and strikes in Norway, but both of those risks have passed and Libyan output is rising.”
As of Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimated that 43.57% of Gulf oil output was shut in.
That’s an improvement from 69.4% on Monday.
“Heading into a tough period for the global economy when restrictions are going to become more severe, the outlook for oil isn’t great,” said Erlam.
In a monthly report Tuesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries left its outlook for 2020 oil demand relatively unchanged, penciling in a decline of 9.5 million barrels a day, year on year, to reach 90.3 million barrels a day.
For 2021, however, OPEC revised demand lower by 80,000 barrels a day, forecasting growth of 6.5 million barrels a day to reach 96.8 million barrels per day, with the cut largely reflecting a lower growth outlook for both developed and emerging market regions compared to the September forecast.
Separately, the annual World Energy Outlook report from the International Energy Agency released Tuesday said that global energy demand is expected to rebound to its pre-crisis level in early 2023, under a scenario in which COVID-19 is brought under control in 2021 and the global economy returns to pre-crisis levels that year.
Weekly data on U.S. petroleum supplies will be released by the Energy Information Administration on Thursday, a day later than usual because of Monday’s U.S. federal holiday.
On average, domestic crude supplies are expected to post a decline of 2.3 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 9, according to a survey of analysts by S&P Global Platts.
The survey also showed expectations for supply declines of 1.8 million barrels for gasoline and 2.5 million barrels for distillates, which include heating oil.
On Nymex Tuesday, November gasoline rose 0.6% to $1.1827 a gallon and November heating oil added 1% to $1.169 a gallon.
November natural gas fell by 0.9% to $2.855 per million British thermal units, after scoring a gain of 5.1% on Monday.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-b ... 1602590892
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
MARKETWATCH
"Oil prices finish higher, encouraged by OPEC+ commitment to output cuts"
By Myra P. Saefong, and William Watts
Last Updated: Oct. 14, 2020 at 3:17 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 14, 2020 at 8:33 a.m. ET
Oil futures stretched their gains to a second session Wednesday, as Saudi Arabia and Russia reportedly held a discussion by phone, reiterating the OPEC+ commitment to abide by the production-cut agreement.
A report by the International Energy Agency, however, underlined fears an acceleration in new COVID-19 cases around the world will dent demand for crude, limiting gains for prices.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, together known as OPEC+, appear to “remain committed to output cuts according to its de facto leaders,” said Robbie Fraser, senior commodity analyst at Schneider Electric.
“Both Russia and Saudi Arabia have reaffirmed that commitment in recent statements, and the group is expected to generally maintain record cuts into 2021,” he said in a note.
That comes despite some weaker cooperation among some of the group’s smaller members, as well as the prospect of increased Libyan output,” he said, adding that Libya remains an OPEC member, but is exempt from the OPEC+ agreement.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked by telephone on Tuesday, the official Saudi Press Agency said.
The pair “agreed on the importance of all oil-producing countries to continue cooperating and abiding by OPEC+ agreement to achieve these goals for the benefit of both producers and consumers,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
The news follows a report from the The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 8 that Saudi Arabia was considering the postponement of plans for OPEC+ to raise oil production early next year to the end of the first quarter.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery climbed by 84 cents, or 2.1%, to settle at $41.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, following a rise of almost 2% Tuesday.
December Brent crude, the global benchmark, added 87 cents, or nearly 2.1%, at $43.32 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
OPEC+ members “will likely adopt a wait-and-see approach and not pursue new policies, since the market seems to be in balance and they will be cautious not to mess with the fragile recovery recently achieved,” said Manish Raj, chief financial officer at Velandera Energy.
“OPEC+ has shown its willingness to step in to rebalance the market, should that be necessary, but they will not risk prematurely tilting the balance in either direction,” he told MarketWatch.
The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee, or JMMC, which monitors compliance with production cuts, is scheduled to meet on Monday.
Meanwhile, the global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 climbed to 38.2 million on Wednesday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, the New York Times reported, with 16 U.S. states adding more new cases in the last seven days through Monday that in any other since the start of the pandemic.
Oil was lifted Tuesday by data that showed a jump in crude imports by China, but with the focus on a pickup in new cases, “it is bound to be a difficult journey higher not only from COVID headlines, but elevated oil inventories will continue to be a dead weight on prices over the short-term, dissuading big oil traders from building aggressive long positions ahead of the inventory reports,” said Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at Axi, in a note.
The Paris-based IEA painted a picture of contracting supply, penciling in a 4-million-barrel-a-day drop in the fourth quarter, but the agency warned that the drawdown is coming off record inventory levels and could falter as a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in the developed world results in new restrictions on movement.
The climbing case number “surely raises doubts about the robustness of the anticipated economic recovery and thus the prospects for oil demand growth,” the IEA said.
The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook report released Tuesday said under its best-case scenario, global energy demand isn’t expected to rebound to its precrisis level until 2023.
Weekly data on U.S. petroleum supplies have been delayed by a day this week because of Monday’s federal holiday.
The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group, will release its figures late Wednesday, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s official report due out Thursday.
On average, the EIA is expected to report that domestic crude supplies declined by 2.3 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 9, according to a survey of analysts by S&P Global Platts.
The survey also showed expectations for supply declines of 1.8 million barrels for gasoline and 2.5 million barrels for distillates, which include heating oil.
“Inventories are famously all over the board as a hurricane comes in,” said Flynn, in a note.
Hurricane Delta made landfall on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast last week.
The supply numbers “will be skewed enough and will cause more confusion than really shed any light.”
Back on Nymex, November gasoline rose 1.2% to $1.1971 a gallon and November heating oil climbed 2% to $1.1925 a gallon.
November natural gas settled at $2.636 per million British thermal units, down 7.7%.
Natural gas “hit a bump in the road” on signs of “some lost near-term demand,” said Daniel Flynn, an analyst at The Price Futures Group.
“All in all, I believe this is another reason for profit-taking mode as the Gulf of Mexico production continues to return” following disruptions from Hurricane Delta.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-p ... od=markets
"Oil prices finish higher, encouraged by OPEC+ commitment to output cuts"
By Myra P. Saefong, and William Watts
Last Updated: Oct. 14, 2020 at 3:17 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 14, 2020 at 8:33 a.m. ET
Oil futures stretched their gains to a second session Wednesday, as Saudi Arabia and Russia reportedly held a discussion by phone, reiterating the OPEC+ commitment to abide by the production-cut agreement.
A report by the International Energy Agency, however, underlined fears an acceleration in new COVID-19 cases around the world will dent demand for crude, limiting gains for prices.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, together known as OPEC+, appear to “remain committed to output cuts according to its de facto leaders,” said Robbie Fraser, senior commodity analyst at Schneider Electric.
“Both Russia and Saudi Arabia have reaffirmed that commitment in recent statements, and the group is expected to generally maintain record cuts into 2021,” he said in a note.
That comes despite some weaker cooperation among some of the group’s smaller members, as well as the prospect of increased Libyan output,” he said, adding that Libya remains an OPEC member, but is exempt from the OPEC+ agreement.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked by telephone on Tuesday, the official Saudi Press Agency said.
The pair “agreed on the importance of all oil-producing countries to continue cooperating and abiding by OPEC+ agreement to achieve these goals for the benefit of both producers and consumers,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
The news follows a report from the The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 8 that Saudi Arabia was considering the postponement of plans for OPEC+ to raise oil production early next year to the end of the first quarter.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery climbed by 84 cents, or 2.1%, to settle at $41.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, following a rise of almost 2% Tuesday.
December Brent crude, the global benchmark, added 87 cents, or nearly 2.1%, at $43.32 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
OPEC+ members “will likely adopt a wait-and-see approach and not pursue new policies, since the market seems to be in balance and they will be cautious not to mess with the fragile recovery recently achieved,” said Manish Raj, chief financial officer at Velandera Energy.
“OPEC+ has shown its willingness to step in to rebalance the market, should that be necessary, but they will not risk prematurely tilting the balance in either direction,” he told MarketWatch.
The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee, or JMMC, which monitors compliance with production cuts, is scheduled to meet on Monday.
Meanwhile, the global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 climbed to 38.2 million on Wednesday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, the New York Times reported, with 16 U.S. states adding more new cases in the last seven days through Monday that in any other since the start of the pandemic.
Oil was lifted Tuesday by data that showed a jump in crude imports by China, but with the focus on a pickup in new cases, “it is bound to be a difficult journey higher not only from COVID headlines, but elevated oil inventories will continue to be a dead weight on prices over the short-term, dissuading big oil traders from building aggressive long positions ahead of the inventory reports,” said Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at Axi, in a note.
The Paris-based IEA painted a picture of contracting supply, penciling in a 4-million-barrel-a-day drop in the fourth quarter, but the agency warned that the drawdown is coming off record inventory levels and could falter as a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in the developed world results in new restrictions on movement.
The climbing case number “surely raises doubts about the robustness of the anticipated economic recovery and thus the prospects for oil demand growth,” the IEA said.
The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook report released Tuesday said under its best-case scenario, global energy demand isn’t expected to rebound to its precrisis level until 2023.
Weekly data on U.S. petroleum supplies have been delayed by a day this week because of Monday’s federal holiday.
The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group, will release its figures late Wednesday, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s official report due out Thursday.
On average, the EIA is expected to report that domestic crude supplies declined by 2.3 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 9, according to a survey of analysts by S&P Global Platts.
The survey also showed expectations for supply declines of 1.8 million barrels for gasoline and 2.5 million barrels for distillates, which include heating oil.
“Inventories are famously all over the board as a hurricane comes in,” said Flynn, in a note.
Hurricane Delta made landfall on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast last week.
The supply numbers “will be skewed enough and will cause more confusion than really shed any light.”
Back on Nymex, November gasoline rose 1.2% to $1.1971 a gallon and November heating oil climbed 2% to $1.1925 a gallon.
November natural gas settled at $2.636 per million British thermal units, down 7.7%.
Natural gas “hit a bump in the road” on signs of “some lost near-term demand,” said Daniel Flynn, an analyst at The Price Futures Group.
“All in all, I believe this is another reason for profit-taking mode as the Gulf of Mexico production continues to return” following disruptions from Hurricane Delta.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-p ... od=markets
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
MARKETWATCH
"API data show weekly U.S. crude supplies down over 5 million barrels, sources say"
By Myra P. Saefong
Published: Oct. 14, 2020 at 4:44 p.m. ET
The American Petroleum Institute reported late Wednesday that U.S. crude supplies fell by 5.4 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 9, according to sources.
The API data, which was delayed by a day because of Monday's U.S. federal holiday, also reportedly showed gasoline stockpiles down by 1.5 million barrels, while distillate inventories declined by 3.9 million barrels.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub, meanwhile, edged up by 2.2 million barrels for the week, sources said.
Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Thursday.
The EIA data are expected to show crude inventories down by 2.3 million barrels last week, according to analysts polled by S&P Global Platts.
They also forecast supply declines of 1.8 million barrels for gasoline and 2.5 million barrels in distillates.
November West Texas Intermediate crude was at $41.10 a barrel in electronic trading, little changed from Wednesday’s settlement at $41.04 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/api-d ... latestnews
"API data show weekly U.S. crude supplies down over 5 million barrels, sources say"
By Myra P. Saefong
Published: Oct. 14, 2020 at 4:44 p.m. ET
The American Petroleum Institute reported late Wednesday that U.S. crude supplies fell by 5.4 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 9, according to sources.
The API data, which was delayed by a day because of Monday's U.S. federal holiday, also reportedly showed gasoline stockpiles down by 1.5 million barrels, while distillate inventories declined by 3.9 million barrels.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla., storage hub, meanwhile, edged up by 2.2 million barrels for the week, sources said.
Inventory data from the Energy Information Administration will be released Thursday.
The EIA data are expected to show crude inventories down by 2.3 million barrels last week, according to analysts polled by S&P Global Platts.
They also forecast supply declines of 1.8 million barrels for gasoline and 2.5 million barrels in distillates.
November West Texas Intermediate crude was at $41.10 a barrel in electronic trading, little changed from Wednesday’s settlement at $41.04 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/api-d ... latestnews
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
MARKETWATCH Market Snapshot
"Dow slips for second day as hope for fiscal stimulus before election fades"
By Joy Wiltermuth, and Andrea Riquier
Last Updated: Oct. 14, 2020 at 4:22 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 14, 2020 at 7:37 a.m. ET
U.S. stock benchmarks extended their losing streak to a second day in a row Wednesday, as Congress and the White House wrangled over further pandemic aid and big banks kicked off third-quarter corporate earnings season with a cautious tone.
How did stock benchmarks perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 165.81 points, 0.6%, to finish at 28,514.00, while the S&P 500 index fell 23.26 points, 0.7%, to end at 3,488.67.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 95.17 points, or 0.8%, to close at 11,768.73.
All three benchmarks traded in positive territory earlier in the session.
What drove the market?
Wednesday marked the second full day of corporate quarterly earnings reports from the likes of Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo as investors looked for signs of economic recovery.
Bank of America reported $20.45 billion in total revenue, missing the $20.8 billion estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitv, while income was at $4.9 billion, or 51 cents a share, from $5.8 billion, or 56 cents a share, in the year-ago period, but above the FactSet consensus of 49 cents a share.
Goldman reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue that helped to boost the investment bank’s shares.
The bank reported earnings per share of $9.68 per share, compared with $5.57 expected by Refinitiv’s consensus estimates, while revenue came in at $10.78 billion, versus consensus estimates for $9.46 billion.
“Bank CEOs were a little bit more cautious than some people were expecting them to be,” said Matt Peron, director of research at Janus Henderson Investors, in an interview with MarketWatch.
Peron thinks the more conservative posture signaled by banking executives on the pace of the economic recovery is prudent despite a lack of significant performance issues on their loan books, though keeping thicker credit buffers in place for longer still “was a little bit sobering” for market players, he said.
Beyond the earnings reports, concerns about the global spread of coronavirus in the autumn and winter in the Northern Hemisphere were rising.
Paris and eight other Franch cities imposed a new curfew on Wednesday in a bid to contain outbreaks, as European cities battle with a second wave of coronavirus infection that threaten to overwhelm hospitals.
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus illness COVID-19 was heading for 216,000 on Wednesday, driven by a spike in new cases in the Midwest and Mountain West that are starting to fill hospital beds and squeeze health care systems.
Jitters about uncontrolled infections in swaths of the U.S. come after two drug trials were halted within about 24 hours, as Eli Lilly said that it paused an antibody treatment for the illness created by the novel strain of coronavirus, a day after Johnson & Johnson said that it temporarily halted a vaccine trial.
Although such pauses in experimental drug trials are common, the focus on finding a remedy and treatments for the disease that has stricken some 38 million people globally has amplified anxieties.
Wall Street has been looking to Congress to make progress on another fiscal stimulus bill to help businesses and households deeply wounded by the economic fallout of measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.
But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday called on U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to abandon an all-or-nothing approach to coronavirus relief talks, while Pelosi said the lack of a national strategic coronavirus testing plan by the Trump administration was a major area of disagreement, underscoring ongoing gridlock ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Questions about fiscal stimulus dwarf everything else for market participants, even vaccines and earnings, said Mohannad Aama, portfolio manager at New York-based Beam Capital Management.
“I think there is an expectation that something will happen before the election."
"Absent that, there would be a market disappointment.”
Aama expects to see a continued bifurcation among companies reporting earnings: those exposed to the consumer sectors most impacted by world-wide lockdowns will be hurt, while those at a remove will do fine.
All this comes as the 2020 presidential election draws near.
However, growing expectations that a decisive Democratic victory in the presidential race and in Congress, or a so-called “blue wave”, will result from the elections, has fostered some hope for more significant and broader array of economic stimulus.
Which stocks were in focus?
Walmart Inc. said Wednesday that it will offer “Black Friday Deals for Days” throughout November, both online and in stores.
There are three events planned, starting online on Nov. 4.
Shares closed 1.6% lower.
ConocoPhillip shares fell 1% after a report it was in talks to buy Concho Resources, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. fell 2.9% after the health-care company reported third-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations and raised its full-year outlook.
Shares of NIO Inc. spiked 22.6% after JPMorgan upgraded them to buy and said that the Shanghai-based electric-vehicle maker is set to be the “long-term winner” in China’s luxury electric-vehicle market.
Netflix Inc. shares fell 2.3% even after an analyst price-target upgrade, to $670.
Shares of Apple Inc. rose 0.1% a day after its big product announcement.
Commercial electric-vehicle maker Workhorse Group Inc. received a zero-emission designation from the California Air Resources Board Wednesday.
Shares fell 3%.
What did other assets fare?
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note declined a half a basis point to 0.721%.
Yields and bond prices move in opposite directions.
In global equities, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and Japan’s Nikkei 225 both closed 0.1% higher.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Europe fell 0.1% and London’s FTSE 100 slumped 0.5%.
Gold gained 0.7% to settle at $1,907.30 an ounce, one day after sinking below the $1,900 threshold.
Oil futures jumped, pushing the U.S. benchmark up 2.1%, to finish at $41.04 a barrel, even as rising coronavirus case counts put demand in question.
The greenback was 0.2% lower at 93.35, based on the ICE U.S. Dollar Index.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-p ... latestnews
"Dow slips for second day as hope for fiscal stimulus before election fades"
By Joy Wiltermuth, and Andrea Riquier
Last Updated: Oct. 14, 2020 at 4:22 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 14, 2020 at 7:37 a.m. ET
U.S. stock benchmarks extended their losing streak to a second day in a row Wednesday, as Congress and the White House wrangled over further pandemic aid and big banks kicked off third-quarter corporate earnings season with a cautious tone.
How did stock benchmarks perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 165.81 points, 0.6%, to finish at 28,514.00, while the S&P 500 index fell 23.26 points, 0.7%, to end at 3,488.67.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 95.17 points, or 0.8%, to close at 11,768.73.
All three benchmarks traded in positive territory earlier in the session.
What drove the market?
Wednesday marked the second full day of corporate quarterly earnings reports from the likes of Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo as investors looked for signs of economic recovery.
Bank of America reported $20.45 billion in total revenue, missing the $20.8 billion estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitv, while income was at $4.9 billion, or 51 cents a share, from $5.8 billion, or 56 cents a share, in the year-ago period, but above the FactSet consensus of 49 cents a share.
Goldman reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue that helped to boost the investment bank’s shares.
The bank reported earnings per share of $9.68 per share, compared with $5.57 expected by Refinitiv’s consensus estimates, while revenue came in at $10.78 billion, versus consensus estimates for $9.46 billion.
“Bank CEOs were a little bit more cautious than some people were expecting them to be,” said Matt Peron, director of research at Janus Henderson Investors, in an interview with MarketWatch.
Peron thinks the more conservative posture signaled by banking executives on the pace of the economic recovery is prudent despite a lack of significant performance issues on their loan books, though keeping thicker credit buffers in place for longer still “was a little bit sobering” for market players, he said.
Beyond the earnings reports, concerns about the global spread of coronavirus in the autumn and winter in the Northern Hemisphere were rising.
Paris and eight other Franch cities imposed a new curfew on Wednesday in a bid to contain outbreaks, as European cities battle with a second wave of coronavirus infection that threaten to overwhelm hospitals.
The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus illness COVID-19 was heading for 216,000 on Wednesday, driven by a spike in new cases in the Midwest and Mountain West that are starting to fill hospital beds and squeeze health care systems.
Jitters about uncontrolled infections in swaths of the U.S. come after two drug trials were halted within about 24 hours, as Eli Lilly said that it paused an antibody treatment for the illness created by the novel strain of coronavirus, a day after Johnson & Johnson said that it temporarily halted a vaccine trial.
Although such pauses in experimental drug trials are common, the focus on finding a remedy and treatments for the disease that has stricken some 38 million people globally has amplified anxieties.
Wall Street has been looking to Congress to make progress on another fiscal stimulus bill to help businesses and households deeply wounded by the economic fallout of measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.
But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday called on U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to abandon an all-or-nothing approach to coronavirus relief talks, while Pelosi said the lack of a national strategic coronavirus testing plan by the Trump administration was a major area of disagreement, underscoring ongoing gridlock ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Questions about fiscal stimulus dwarf everything else for market participants, even vaccines and earnings, said Mohannad Aama, portfolio manager at New York-based Beam Capital Management.
“I think there is an expectation that something will happen before the election."
"Absent that, there would be a market disappointment.”
Aama expects to see a continued bifurcation among companies reporting earnings: those exposed to the consumer sectors most impacted by world-wide lockdowns will be hurt, while those at a remove will do fine.
All this comes as the 2020 presidential election draws near.
However, growing expectations that a decisive Democratic victory in the presidential race and in Congress, or a so-called “blue wave”, will result from the elections, has fostered some hope for more significant and broader array of economic stimulus.
Which stocks were in focus?
Walmart Inc. said Wednesday that it will offer “Black Friday Deals for Days” throughout November, both online and in stores.
There are three events planned, starting online on Nov. 4.
Shares closed 1.6% lower.
ConocoPhillip shares fell 1% after a report it was in talks to buy Concho Resources, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. fell 2.9% after the health-care company reported third-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations and raised its full-year outlook.
Shares of NIO Inc. spiked 22.6% after JPMorgan upgraded them to buy and said that the Shanghai-based electric-vehicle maker is set to be the “long-term winner” in China’s luxury electric-vehicle market.
Netflix Inc. shares fell 2.3% even after an analyst price-target upgrade, to $670.
Shares of Apple Inc. rose 0.1% a day after its big product announcement.
Commercial electric-vehicle maker Workhorse Group Inc. received a zero-emission designation from the California Air Resources Board Wednesday.
Shares fell 3%.
What did other assets fare?
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note declined a half a basis point to 0.721%.
Yields and bond prices move in opposite directions.
In global equities, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and Japan’s Nikkei 225 both closed 0.1% higher.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Europe fell 0.1% and London’s FTSE 100 slumped 0.5%.
Gold gained 0.7% to settle at $1,907.30 an ounce, one day after sinking below the $1,900 threshold.
Oil futures jumped, pushing the U.S. benchmark up 2.1%, to finish at $41.04 a barrel, even as rising coronavirus case counts put demand in question.
The greenback was 0.2% lower at 93.35, based on the ICE U.S. Dollar Index.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-p ... latestnews
Re: THE DAILY NEWS
MARKETWATCH Bond Report
"U.S. Treasury yields inch lower as investors turn cautious"
By Sunny Oh
Published: Oct. 14, 2020 at 8:50 a.m. ET
U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly in early Wednesday trade as optimism about riskier assets eased amid delays to drugmakers’ plans to develop a COVID-19 cure and continued wrangling over a new coronavirus aid relief package in Washington.
What are Treasurys doing?
The 10-year Treasury note yield fell 1 basis points to 0.717%, while the 2-year note rate was at 0.141%.
The 30-year bond yield slipped 2.1 basis points to 1.493%.
Bond prices move inversely to yields.
What’s driving Treasurys?
Government bond prices edged up as fiscal stimulus negotiations showed a lack of progress, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying he would launch a vote on a targeted COVID relief package worth around $500 billion.
Analysts say the Republican proposal is likely to founder as it represents a much lower figure than Democrat lawmakers proposed.
On Tuesday, drugmakers Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson reported pauses to their clinical trials for their COVID-19 treatment and vaccine candidate, respectively.
The rebound of the eurozone’s manufacturing sector was losing steam, as industrial production grew 0.7% in August compared with the previous month.
The 10-year German government bond yield, a proxy for the broader European bond market, fell 2.7 basis points to negative 0.583%.
Global infections of COVID-19 continued to tick higher, sparking worries that more countries will be forced to reinstate punishing lockdowns that dented economic activity in the first half of this year.
The U.S. data calendar was thin on Wednesday.
The September producer price index climbed 0.4%.
What did market participants say?
”It doesn’t seem controversial to say that the [Republican] bill stands no chance of being passed by the Democrat controlled lower house,” said analysts at Rabobank.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-t ... ts_seemore
"U.S. Treasury yields inch lower as investors turn cautious"
By Sunny Oh
Published: Oct. 14, 2020 at 8:50 a.m. ET
U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly in early Wednesday trade as optimism about riskier assets eased amid delays to drugmakers’ plans to develop a COVID-19 cure and continued wrangling over a new coronavirus aid relief package in Washington.
What are Treasurys doing?
The 10-year Treasury note yield fell 1 basis points to 0.717%, while the 2-year note rate was at 0.141%.
The 30-year bond yield slipped 2.1 basis points to 1.493%.
Bond prices move inversely to yields.
What’s driving Treasurys?
Government bond prices edged up as fiscal stimulus negotiations showed a lack of progress, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying he would launch a vote on a targeted COVID relief package worth around $500 billion.
Analysts say the Republican proposal is likely to founder as it represents a much lower figure than Democrat lawmakers proposed.
On Tuesday, drugmakers Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson reported pauses to their clinical trials for their COVID-19 treatment and vaccine candidate, respectively.
The rebound of the eurozone’s manufacturing sector was losing steam, as industrial production grew 0.7% in August compared with the previous month.
The 10-year German government bond yield, a proxy for the broader European bond market, fell 2.7 basis points to negative 0.583%.
Global infections of COVID-19 continued to tick higher, sparking worries that more countries will be forced to reinstate punishing lockdowns that dented economic activity in the first half of this year.
The U.S. data calendar was thin on Wednesday.
The September producer price index climbed 0.4%.
What did market participants say?
”It doesn’t seem controversial to say that the [Republican] bill stands no chance of being passed by the Democrat controlled lower house,” said analysts at Rabobank.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-t ... ts_seemore