Commodities Update Weaker dollar supports commodity prices It has been a quiet few weeks for news from China, as disruption associated with the Lunar New Year holiday has made it difficult to determine exactly how the economy has fared so far this year... 16th February 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Update How big a deal is the agreement to freeze oil output? The oil markets have given a lukewarm response to the tentative deal between Saudi Arabia and Russia to hold their output at its January levels. We are wary too, as it was unlikely that either country... 16th February 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Resilience of industrial commodity prices reassuring Given the negativity in global equity markets, the relative stability of industrial commodity prices (especially metals) over the last few weeks has been reassuring. Even Brent crude, while slipping... 12th February 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Update Resilient production could keep oil prices lower for longer Even though we continue to think that oil prices will finish the year much higher than they started it, there is a growing risk that US shale producers will continue to defy forecasts of their demise. 11th February 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report Stocks of crude oil fell slightly last week, while gasoline stocks continued to rise, albeit at a slower pace. The key driver of the dip in crude stocks was a sharp drop in net imports. A small... 10th February 2016 · 1 min read
OPEC Watch OPEC Watch OPEC production rose in January as output rebounded after December’s small fall. Even though demand is set to grow by over 1m bpd this year and non-OPEC supply should fall, bulging stocks and high... 10th February 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Watch Where next for oil? Oil prices have slumped dramatically over the last six months, but have rebounded a little over the last week. In this Energy Watch we focus on the main factors likely to drive prices over the next... 5th February 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Commodity prices rally on dollar weakness A visitor from Mars might have been confused by the responses of commodity markets to US economic data in the past few days. Prices jumped in dollar terms after the publication on Wednesday of a weak... 5th February 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Update Focus on Brent hides greater weakness in OPEC’s prices The recent sharp falls and partial recovery in the price of Brent crude oil have grabbed the headlines. But focusing on Brent (or the traditional US benchmark WTI) alone doesn’t tell the whole story... 5th February 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Watch Is US oil production falling? US oil production has been surprisingly resilient since oil prices collapsed in 2014 as companies have slashed costs and jobs and concentrated on only the most productive sweet spots. In this Energy... 4th February 2016 · 1 min read
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report Stocks of both crude oil and gasoline jumped again last week, primarily due to an increase in imports of crude and weak demand for products respectively. However, the weather probably bears at least... 3rd February 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Turkey CPI (Jan.) Stronger-than-expected Turkish inflation in January, of 9.6% y/y, was partly driven by administered price hikes and what is likely to be a temporary unwinding of the impact of the decline in global... 3rd February 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Chart Pack Oil drags commodities lower, but gold shines It was a poor start to the year for commodities with the prices of energy, industrial metals and agricultural commodities all falling owing to persistent concerns about Chinese demand and continued... 1st February 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone consumers have spent their oil windfalls The decline in oil prices and inflation has probably had a more positive impact on the euro-zone economy than expected as the region’s consumers have spent their windfalls. But as the oil boost fades... 1st February 2016 · 1 min read
Commodities Outlook Oil to lead a broad-based recovery Despite the rally in the oil market at the end of January, the big picture over the last few months has of course been one of further sharp falls in the prices of most industrial commodities. What's... 1st February 2016 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Gulf countries shed light on fiscal plans The raft of budgets announced in the Gulf over the past month should help to ease concerns that these countries lack a clear agenda to adjust to cheap oil. The Saudi government has already cut energy... 29th January 2016 · 1 min read