Largely Holding Onto Thursday's Bounce

Brent crude has largely tracked sideways through the first part of the Friday session. We were last near $75.50/bbl, not far off yesterday's session highs close to $76/bbl. This leaves us only 0.25% lower for the session so far, after a 3.37% gain for Thursday. WTI was last around
$70.40-50/bbl, tracing a similar trajectory.

• The Thursday rally was largely on the back of China stimulus hopes. A State Council meeting may take place today, the market will be looking for additional signs that China will improve domestic demand outside of the recent rate cuts announced.
• Earlier headlines crossed from China's NDRC, stating the authorities will ensure coal/gas supply to meet summer demand. This could be seen as a positive at the margin for broader commodities, and comes after China's oil import quota bump earlier in the week.
• Still, elevated Russian supply and US inventory builds are working against upside price momentum. The prompt spread continues to fall.
• For Brent, support is still evident on moves sub $71.50/bbl, while on the topside the 50-day MA is near $77.75/bbl.