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OIL: Recouping Wednesday's Losses, Better China Sentiment Helping

OIL

Brent crude has pushed back above $77/bbl in the first part of Thursday dealings. We are up close to 0.80%, which is completely offsetting Wednesday's drop at this stage. WTI was last near $73.80/bbl, up by the same amount, although we haven't been able to test above $74/bbl so far. 

  • Better China related asset sentiment has likely helped oil at the margins today. Onshore China equities (and in HK) are up firmly. Today the PBoC opened applications for a swap facility that is aimed at supporting local equity markets. This comes ahead of Saturday's fiscal briefing from the MoF.
  • Crude was under pressure through Wednesday US trade, as a report showed US stockpiles rose nearly 6mln barrels last week. The firmer USD/US yield backdrop was also a headwind.
  • The other watch point for markets remains Middle East tensions, with Israel's retaliation against Iran still awaited.
  • For Brent, intra-session lows from Wednesday came near $75/bbl. This was right on the 20-day EMA. Recent highs remain intact just abvoe $81/bbl.
  • Upcoming macro focus will rest on the US CPI print later. 
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Brent crude has pushed back above $77/bbl in the first part of Thursday dealings. We are up close to 0.80%, which is completely offsetting Wednesday's drop at this stage. WTI was last near $73.80/bbl, up by the same amount, although we haven't been able to test above $74/bbl so far. 

  • Better China related asset sentiment has likely helped oil at the margins today. Onshore China equities (and in HK) are up firmly. Today the PBoC opened applications for a swap facility that is aimed at supporting local equity markets. This comes ahead of Saturday's fiscal briefing from the MoF.
  • Crude was under pressure through Wednesday US trade, as a report showed US stockpiles rose nearly 6mln barrels last week. The firmer USD/US yield backdrop was also a headwind.
  • The other watch point for markets remains Middle East tensions, with Israel's retaliation against Iran still awaited.
  • For Brent, intra-session lows from Wednesday came near $75/bbl. This was right on the 20-day EMA. Recent highs remain intact just abvoe $81/bbl.
  • Upcoming macro focus will rest on the US CPI print later.