Petroleum futures were trading mixed near the unchanged mark in the overnight session on Friday with gains in European equities and in US stock market index futures, weakness in the US dollar index, and news that new US sanctions were imposed on Russia yesterday likely supporting. Market participants looked ahead to Canadian housing starts, US housing starts and permits, the preliminary University of Michigan US consumer sentiment index, and the weekly US rig counts from Baker Hughes for further direction.
Reuters reports that the US has imposed sanctions on Russia, including curbs on its sovereign debt market, as a response to their interference with last year’s US election, cyber hacking, bullying Ukraine and other alleged malign actions. The US government blacklisted Russian companies, expelled Russian diplomats, and barred US banks from buying sovereign bonds from Russia’s central bank, national wealth fund and Finance Ministry.
Economic data releases from China were mixed. Fixed asset investment saw a rise of 25.6% year-on-year in March, above forecasts at 25.3%. Chinese home prices appreciated 4.6% on a yearly basis last month, up slightly from a 4.3% increase in February. Retail sales jumped 34.2% y/y in March, beating the Econoday consensus at 27.6%. On the other hand, industrial production rose 14.1% year-on-year last month, missing expectations at 16.8%. Also unsupportive, the Chinese economy grew 0.6% in the first quarter, missing expectations at 1.5%. The Nikkei edged up 0.1%, the Hang Seng closed 0.6% higher, and the Shanghai Composite added 0.8%. In European news this morning, the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the Eurozone rose 0.9% last month, as expected. The Narrow Core price level rose 1.0%, also matching expectations. As of this writing, European shares were trading higher with the CAC 40 up 0.3%, the FTSE 100 adding 0.5%, and the DAX climbing 0.9% higher. US stock market index futures were seeing gains of around 0.1%. Also supportive for crude oil prices, the US dollar index was down 0.1%.
Petroleum futures strengthened yesterday amid gains in equities and news that the Houthi group launched another drone and missile attack in Saudi Arabia. Brent crude futures rose 36 cents to close at $66.94/bbl and WTI futures added 31 cents to settle at $63.46/bbl. RBOB futures rose 1.63 cents to settle at $2.0518/g and ULSD (HO) edged up 89 points for a $1.8989/g settlement. The New York Harbor ULSD barge price differential strengthened by 10 points to +0.10c/g to NYMEX, according to Platts. HSHO and ULSHO barge differentials held steady at -25.75c/g and -15.50c/g, respectively. Spot propane prices rose along with crude yesterday, according to Platts, with Mt. Belvieu non-LST prices up 50 points to 77.750c/g and LST prices adding 75 points to 77.625c/g. Conway spot prices rose 1.50 cents to 72.250c/g.
Natural gas futures rose 4.0 cents, settling at $2.658/mmBtu amid a bullish weekly storage report from the EIA and a tighter market balance expectation for next week. The EIA reported a 61bcf injection into underground storage for the week ended April 9, below expectations at 67bcf. The latest 1-5 and 6-10 day outlooks from the ECMWF see below-normal temperatures across the majority of the country with large deviations below normal temperatures expected in some parts of the Midwest.
