OIL: Crude Holding Onto Losses, EIA US Stock Data Out Later

Crude has held onto this week’s losses with only a small increase during today’s APAC trading. It has lost the gains made over the last 12 months. WTI is up 0.4% to $69.45/bbl off the intraday high of $69.69, while Brent is 0.3% higher at $72.95/bbl after rising to $72.85. The USD index is little changed.

• There have been comments from some OPEC delegates that the start of output cut reductions is likely to be delayed but this news has been unable to support prices. Markets are likely to want to hear a definite decision from the group before beginning to recover, especially given concerns re the demand outlook.
• Bloomberg reported that US crude inventories fell 7.4mn barrels last week, according to people familiar with the API data. Gasoline stocks fell 300k and distillate 400k. The official EIA data is out later today but has been showing steady crude drawdowns since the start of July.
• Later there are US August Challenger job cuts and ADP employment, services/composite PMI/ISM, jobless claims and Q2 final productivity/ULC, as well as euro area July retail sales and German factory orders. The ECB’s Tuominen speaks. Friday’s US payrolls data are a focus for crude markets as they await Fed easing to support demand.