2024-03-14 06:56

Oil extends gains after closing at four-month high on Wednesday IEA raises demand growth forecast and lowers supply projection U.S. producer prices rise, consumer spending falls HOUSTON, March 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Thursday to settle at four-month highs as the International Energy Agency predicted a tighter market in 2024 and raised its view on oil demand growth this year. Brent crude oil futures for May climbed $1.39, or 1.7%, to settle at $85.42 a barrel, the highest close since Nov. 6. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for April rose $1.54, or 1.9%, to end at $81.26, also its highest since early November. Both benchmarks had chalked up gains close to 3% on Wednesday. The IEA raised its view on 2024 oil demand growth for a fourth time since November as Houthi attacks disrupt Red Sea shipping but warned that "the global economic slowdown acts as an additional headwind to oil use". The energy watchdog forecast demand will rise by 1.3 million barrels per day in 2024, up 110,000 bpd from last month, but still lower than growth of 2.3 million bpd last year. The IEA also cut its 2024 supply forecast and now expects oil supply to rise by 800,000 bpd to 102.9 million bpd this year. "Demand is staying high, while supplies are getting tighter, particularly on the fuel side. The refining margins are also very strong and a positive for crude demand," said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial. The 3-2-1 crack spread, a proxy for refining margins, rose to their highest since mid-September on Wednesday, incentivising more crude processing. Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refining facilities continued for a second day on Wednesday, targeting four large oil refineries. Russia's energy ministry said Russia's seaborne fuel exports fell 1.5% from the previous month in February because of refinery downtime stemming from Ukrainian drone attacks and fires. The damage to refineries could cut Russian gasoline production by more than 10%, said Kissler. Meanwhile in the U.S., crude and gasoline inventories plunged last week, government data showed on Wednesday, with sharply higher pump prices expected in the coming weeks as major refinery outages have cut supplies ahead of the summer driving season. U.S. producer prices rose 0.6% in February, partly because gasoline prices increased by more than forecasts for a 0.3% advance. Traders now see a 63.5% chance of the Federal Reserve cutting rates in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool , opens new tab, down from 67% prior to the data. Lower interest rates cut consumer borrowing costs, which can boost economic growth and demand for oil. Near-term growth in global oil and liquids production will be driven primarily by the United States, Guyana, Canada and Brazil, offsetting voluntary production cuts by OPEC+, the U.S. Energy Information Agency forecast on Thursday. The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-prices-underpinned-by-us-inventory-data-attacks-russian-refineries-2024-03-14/

2024-03-14 06:55

NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India's wholesale price index (INWPI=ECI) , opens new tab in February rose at a slower pace than in the previous month, mainly due a sharper fall in manufactured products and power prices, government data showed on Thursday. In February, wholesale prices rose 0.20% year-on-year, compared with a 0.27% gain in January. The latest figures were also slower than economists' expectation of a 0.25% rise, according to a Reuters poll. In February, manufactured product prices fell 1.27% against a 1.13% fall in the previous month, while fuel and power prices fell 1.59% from a year earlier, compared with a 0.51% drop in January. Food prices rose 4.09% year-on-year compared with an increase of 3.79% in January, while prices of primary articles were up 4.49% versus a rise of 3.84%. Earlier this week, government data showed the country's retail inflation rate remained steady in February. Get a look at the day ahead in Asian and global markets with the Morning Bid Asia newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/indias-february-wholesale-prices-rise-020-year-pace-slows-2024-03-14/

2024-03-14 06:38

NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar climbed on Thursday, while a gauge of global stocks stumbled after a stronger than expected reading on U.S. inflation cast doubt on the timing and magnitude of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year. The producer price index (PPI) for final demand rose 0.6% last month, above the 0.3% climb forecast by economists polled by Reuters, after advancing by an unrevised 0.3% in January, the Labor Department said. A reading on consumer inflation earlier this week also showed some stickiness in inflation. Other data showed U.S. retail sales rebounded last month with a 0.6% rise, but were below the 0.8% estimate, while weekly initial jobless claims fell to 209,000 versus the 218,000 forecast. "Fed confusion - where we started with 'Oh my God, they're going to cut six times or eight times this year,' now it's 'They're definitely going to cut three times this year,'" said JJ Kinahan, CEO of IG North America and president of Tastytrade in Chicago. "What people are seeing in the inflation numbers, what it looks like is starting to maybe turn a little bit on job numbers, there's just all this conflicting data so what the easiest thing to do is to not do a lot." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 137.66 points, or 0.35%, to 38,905.66, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab lost 14.83 points, or 0.29%, to 5,150.48 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab shed 49.24 points, or 0.30%, to 16,128.53. Ahead of a Fed policy meeting next week where a rate cut has been essentially ruled out, the market has trimmed the odds of a cut at the June meeting, with expectations for a cut of at least 25 basis points at 59.9%, according to CME's FedWatch Tool , opens new tab, down from 81.7% a week ago. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes jumped 9.8 basis points to 4.29%, from 4.192% while the 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, rose 6.9 basis points to 4.6914%. The 10-year yield was poised for its biggest one-day increase since Feb. 13. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab fell 2.75 points, or 0.35%, to 772.53, while the STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab index closed down 0.18% after hitting a third straight intraday record high. Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) , opens new tab shed 3.37 points, or 0.17%. The Bank of Japan also meets next week. Officials including Governor Kazuo Ueda have sought to temper expectations of an imminent shift out of negative interest rates, which has set the yen on course for its worst weekly performance in a month. The dollar index gained 0.53% at 103.29, with the euro down 0.5% at $1.0891. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar strengthened 0.32% at 148.22. The Japanese currency had briefly firmed against the greenback after Jiji news agency reported the Bank of Japan had started to make arrangements to end its negative interest rate policy at the March 18-19 meeting. Investors have been pricing in the chance of a change in policy this month, particularly after news of big pay hikes from some of Japan's biggest companies at this year's annual wage negotiations. In commodities, U.S. crude settled up 1.93% at $81.26 a barrel and Brent settled at $85.42 per barrel, up 1.65% on the day, the highest settlement price since Nov. 6, after the International Energy Agency's (IEA) latest oil market report predicted a tighter market in 2024. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2024-03-14/

2024-03-14 06:32

COPENHAGEN, March 14 (Reuters) - Norwegian aluminium maker Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL) , opens new tab said on Thursday it had appointed Eivind Kallevik as its new chief executive officer after Hilde Merete Aasheim decided to leave the company. Kallevik previously was chief financial officer of Hydro and is currently the head of the company's aluminium metal business. He will take up the position from May 13 and Aasheim will leave the company by end-June after having been the CEO for five years, it said in a statement. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/norsk-hydro-picks-kallevik-new-ceo-2024-03-14/

2024-03-14 05:59

MELBOURNE, March 14 (Reuters) - Australia's Pilbara Minerals (PLS.AX) , opens new tab said on Thursday it has accepted a pre-auction offer for a shipment of 5,000 dry metric tonnes (dmt) of lithium spodumene concentrate cargo from a group of registered auction participants. The shipment was made available for sale to a group of registered participants prior to the auction on Pilbara's Battery Metal Exchange (BMX), which had been scheduled for March 18, it said in an exchange filing. Australia's biggest independent lithium miner has now allocated most of its supply for the year, it said, and future spot sales on the BMX exchange are unlikely. Pilbara said on Tuesday it had inked a spodumene concentrate , opens new tab supply deal with Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab supplier Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group (002497.SZ) , opens new tab, to be delivered from its Pilgangoora operation in Western Australia. The lithium miner indicated that it received a number of offers prior to the auction and has accepted one and executed a sales contract with the buyer, whose name it did not disclose. The lithium market has been stabilising after prices plunged more than 70% in 2023 on slower-than-expected sales growth of electric vehicles, as well as higher production and over-supply of the metal. "The offer is good evidence and support of future demand and the pricing horizon," said analyst Tim Hoff of Canaccord in Perth. The offer prices the shipment at $1,200 per dmt on a SC6.0 CIF China equivalent basis after adjusting for lithium content and including freight costs, Pilbara said. The shipment is contracted for the December quarter given the firm already has existing offtake agreements with other parties. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/lithium-miner-pilbara-minerals-accepts-pre-auction-offer-spodumene-cargo-2024-03-14/

2024-03-14 05:49

U.S. producer prices rise 0.6% in February; jobless claims fall U.S. retail sales expand, but weaker than expected Fed funds futures now price in less than three cuts this year BOJ arranging exit from negative rates as soon as next week Bitcoin sinks after hitting another record high NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar advanced on Thursday, boosted by data showing hotter-than-expected producer prices last month and fewer people seeking unemployment claims, which suggested that the Federal Reserve could reduce the number of rate cuts this year. The dollar index , which gauges the currency against six major peers, rose in three of the last four sessions. It was last up 0.6% at 103.36. For the week, the index was up 0.6%, on pace for its largest weekly gain since mid-January. Data on Thursday showed the U.S. producer price index for final demand rose 0.6% in February after advancing by an unrevised 0.3% in January. Economists had forecast the PPI climbing 0.3%. In the 12 months through February, the PPI surged 1.6% after advancing 1.0% in January. The report followed data on Tuesday that consumer prices increased strongly for a second straight month in February. A separate report from the Labor Department was also better than expected, showing that U.S. initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 209,000 for the week ended March 9. Economists had forecast 218,000 claims in the latest week. "The price action proves the point that people were not positioned for how strong everything (U.S. data) was this morning," said Erik Bregar, director of FX and precious metals risk management, at Silver Gold Bull in Toronto. "The thinking now is that: what could the Fed say dovishly next week? If anything, they could be on the hawkish side." The Fed's current dot plot, or the central bank's interest rate forecast, showed three rate cuts for 2024, although that was released back in December. U.S. inflation numbers since then have been sticky, while the labor market remained tight. The U.S. central bank's policy meeting is set to run from March 19-20 and while the market is not expecting any change in interest rates, investors will be closely watching for revisions to the dot plot. U.S. rate futures have pared back the chances of a rate cut at the June meeting to 60%, from about 67% late on Wednesday, according to LSEG's rate probability app. For 2024, the market is now pricing in less than three rate cuts, down from between three to four roughly two weeks ago. Another piece of data on Thursday showed some deceleration in spending. U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% last month and the numbers for January were revised lower to show sales tumbling 1.1% instead of 0.8% as previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales in February, which are mostly goods and are not adjusted for inflation, rising 0.8%. The retail sales report, however, has not dented the market's growing conviction that the Fed's rate-cutting cycle will be gradual. Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan started to make arrangements to end its negative interest rate policy at the March 18-19 meeting, Jiji news agency reported. The yen firmed against both the dollar and euro after the report but it has since weakened versus the greenback. Preliminary results of Japan's spring wage negotiations are due on Friday, with several of the country's biggest companies having already agreed to meet union demands for pay increases. The dollar was last up 0.4% versus the yen at 148.29 yen , while the euro stayed lower against the Japanese unit, down 0.3% at 161.35 . In other currencies, the euro dropped 0.6% to $1.0884. There was no major European economic data on Thursday. Sterling fell as well versus the dollar, sliding 0.4% to $1.2745. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell more than 5% after earlier hitting a record $73,803. It was last at $69,381. Exchange-traded bitcoin funds and optimism that the Fed will cut interest rates this year have boosted the biggest cryptocurrency to repeated record peaks. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/currency-market-subdued-ahead-fresh-us-economic-data-2024-03-14/