Petroleum futures were seeing further losses in the overnight session on Friday despite gains in European shares and in US stock market index futures, as well as weakness in the US dollar index. Market participants awaited Canadian Labor Force Survey data, the Canadian Ivey PMI, the US employment situation report, and the weekly US rig counts from Baker Hughes for further direction.
Reuters reports that Chinese crude imports fell 0.2% y/y in April as refiners cut production to relieve a squeeze in profit margins that was brought about by rising crude oil prices and bulging inventories. China bought 9.82mb/d of crude oil in April, down from 11.69mb/d in March and the lowest level of imports since December, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.
The final Composite PMI for Japan (Markit) came in at 51.0 in April, up from 49.9 the prior month. The Nikkei closed 0.09% higher. The Chinese merchandise trade surplus expanded in April, from $13.8bn to $42.85bn, above the Econoday consensus at $28.1bn. The Chinese Composite PMI (Caixin) came in at 54.7 last month, up from 53.1 in March. The Hang Seng edged down 0.09%, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.65%.
Across the pond, German industrial production grew 2.5% in March, beating consensus at 1.7%. On the other hand, the merchandise trade surplus narrowed from E18.9bn to E14.3bn, while expectations called for an expansion to E19.5bn. As of this writing, the DAX was up 1.26%. French industrial production rose 0.8% in March, missing the Econoday consensus at 2.0%. The merchandise trade deficit in France widened from E5.14bn to E6.07bn. Nonetheless, the CAC 40 was up 0.22%. Italian retail sales dipped 0.1% in March, while expectations called for a sharper drop of 1.5%. The Construction PMI in the UK came in at 61.6, below forecasts at 62.3. The FTSE 100 was trading 0.61% higher this morning. US stock market index futures were seeing gains of around 0.3%, as of this writing. Also supportive for crude prices, the US dollar index was down 0.1%.
Petroleum futures lost ground yesterday amid a continued surge in coronavirus cases in India and mixed trade in US equities, despite weakness in the US dollar and strength in European shares. WTI crude fell 92 cents to settle at $64.71/bbl and Brent crude lost 87 cents to close at $68.09/bbl. RBOB futures dropped 3.76 cents, settling at $2.1137/g, and ULSD (HO) futures fell 1.30 cents to $1.9895/g. According to Platts, New York Harbor ULSD and ULSHO barge differentials to NYMEX weakened by 10 points and one cent to +0.40c/g and -18.75c/g, respectively, while the HSHO barge differential held steady at -26.00c/g. Also per Platts, May propane prices fell along with crude prices on Thursday as Mt. Belvieu non-LST prices fell 1.50 cents to 80.500c/g and LST prices weakened 2.25 cents to 79.750c/g. Conway spot prices fell by 1.50 cents to 77.250c/g.
Natural gas futures fell one cent, settling at $2.928/mmBtu despite a supportive weekly storage report from the EIA. The EIA reported a 60bcf injection into underground storage for the week ended April 30, below expectations at 64bcf. The National Hurricane Center sees no tropical cyclones in the Atlantic in the next 48 hours.
