Crude Off Highs Following Soft China CPI, US & China Remain The Focus

Oil prices rose close to a percent today on better risk sentiment following US equities trending higher this month. They gave up most of those gains following CPI data showing that China has returned to deflation and are now only around 0.3% higher in the session. WTI reached a high of $76.06/bbl but is now down to $75.60. Brent rose to $80.27 but is now back below the $80-level at around $79.78. The USD index is flat but off the intraday lows.

• What the Fed is thinking of doing next has been a focus of the market this week, with some officials saying that the inflation fight is not over yet. Yesterday Powell didn’t comment on the outlook for policy or the economy. He is speaking again today, as well as a number of others. The other areas to continue to monitor are activity in China and oil & product inventories.
• The MNI Commodity Weekly looks at how Saudi’s output cuts have been mainly negated by higher output from Russia and Iran.
• Later there are more Fed speakers with Chairman Powell scheduled to participate on a panel at the IMF conference at 1900 GMT. Harker, Bostic, Barkin and Paese are also on today’s calendar. The ECB’s Lagarde and Lane are due to appear. The focus is on central bankers as in terms of data there are only US jobless claims.