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Petroleum futures were trading in the black in the overnight session on Friday amid gains in European shares and news that US legislative talks about an additional COVID-19 relief package were set to resume. Market participants looked ahead to Canadian retail sales, the Eurozone Consumer Confidence Index, and the weekly US rig counts from Baker Hughes for further direction.
According to Reuters, US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had agreed to resume talks over a COVID-19 relief package as cases surge across the country.
Asian stock markets closed mixed overnight with the Nikkei down 0.4%, while the Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite both added 0.4%. Japanese economic data releases were unsupportive. The flash November Markit Composite PMI for Japan came in at 47.0, falling from an upwardly-revised 48.0 last month. The Japanese flash Manufacturing PMI fell from an upwardly-revised 48.7 in October to 48.3 this month. The core CPI fell 0.7% year-on-year in October, while expectations called for a smaller drop of 0.6%. In European economic news, the Producer Price Index in Germany rose 0.1% last month, matching expectations. Retail sales in the UK rose 1.2% last month, above expectations at 0.3%. As of this writing, European shares were seeing gains of around 0.35%. US stock market index futures were trading mixed near the unchanged mark with Nasdaq futures up 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Dow futures were down 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. The US dollar index was flat as of this writing.
Crude futures weakened yesterday amid continued coronavirus-related fears, increasing Libyan oil production, strength in the US dollar, and losses in European equities. WTI crude fell 8 cents to settle at $41.74/bbl and Brent crude lost 14 cents to close at $44.20/bbl. RBOB futures edged down 4 points to $1.1625/g, while ULSD (HO) rose by 67 points to $1.2707/g. According to Platts, New York Harbor ULSD and ULSHO barge differentials to NYMEX strengthened by 50 and 45 points to -0.15c/g and -7.90c/g, respectively, while the HSHO barge differential held steady at -15.00c/g. November propane prices tumbled yesterday, per Platts, as Mt. Belvieu LST prices fell by 3.125 cents to 49.750c/g and non-LST prices dropped three cents to 50.000c/g. Conway spot prices weakened by 2.625 cents, averaging at 49.000c/g.
NYMEX natural gas futures settled 12.0 cents lower at $2.592/mmBtu yesterday amid a looser market balance expectation for next week, a weaker two-week heating degree day outlook, and a bearish weekly storage report from the EIA. The EIA reported a 31bcf injection into underground storage for the week ended November 13, well above expectations at 15bcf. The latest 1-5 and 6-10 day forecasts (EC) see above-normal temperatures across the eastern half of the country. The 11-15 day outlook calls for above-normal temperatures in the Midwest, but near normal temperatures are expected in the Northeast.