Category Archives: Market Insights
Huge EIA Inventory Increase Fails to Soothe Oil Prices
Written on April 14, 2022 at 3:15 am, by lishitong
On Wednesday (GMT+3), the US Energy Information Administration reported an increase in 9.382 million barrels in its crude oil inventories. This is significantly higher than both the estimated increase of 863,000 barrels, and the previous number of 2.421 million barrels. An increase in inventories usually implies weaker demand and would be bearish for crude prices.Continue Reading
FOMC Minutes Point To $95b Balance Sheet Cuts
Written on April 7, 2022 at 6:42 am, by lishitong
On Wednesday, 6 April (GMT+3), the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released the minutes for its 15-16 March meeting. As expected, the meeting was focused on discussing the tightening measures that the Fed would take to rein in galloping inflation. Chiefly, the central bank has plans to shrink its almost-US$9 trillion balance sheet at aContinue Reading
Singapore Increasingly Seen as Safe Haven For Chinese Wealth
Written on April 4, 2022 at 6:37 am, by lishitong
As Beijing’s crackdown on the country’s wealthy continues under president Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” policy, an increasing number of China’s affluent are moving their money to Singapore and setting up family offices. Singapore’s attractiveness stems from its large Chinese-speaking population, lack of wealth tax, and relative proximity. The trend started in 2019 following the economicContinue Reading
US ADP Nonfarm Data Points To Half-Point Rate Hike
Written on March 31, 2022 at 6:50 am, by lishitong
On Wednesday afternoon March 30 (GMT+3), the US ADP Nonfarm Employment Change data reported an increase in 455,000 jobs. This figure is slightyly more than the expected increase of 450,000, and down from the previous month’s value of 486,000. While higher than expected, March’s ADP Employment numbers are still the lowest seen since August 2021.Continue Reading
Crude Surges Amid Lower-than-expected EIA Inventories
Written on March 24, 2022 at 7:28 am, by lishitong
On Wednesday evening March 23 (GMT+3), the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a decrease of 2.508 million barrels in its crude oil inventories for the week of 18 March. This is in contrast to the forecasted increase of 0.114m barrels, and the previous increase of 4.345M. Meanwhile, a disruption in the Caspian Pipeline ConsortiumContinue Reading
China Sees Worst Covid-19 Outbreak Since Pandemic Start
Written on March 21, 2022 at 2:34 am, by lishitong
28 of China’s 31 provinces have recently seen an outbreak of the highly-infectious Omicron variant of the coronavirus. With over 15,000 infected, this is the largest outbreak China has seen since the initial wave of the virus. The recent outbreak has hit major cities including Shanghai and Shenzhen. Dongguan city, the fifth-largest contributor to China’sContinue Reading
Gold Steadies as Fed Increases Interest Rate By Expected 0.25%
Written on March 17, 2022 at 3:12 am, by lishitong
On Wednesday, 16 March, the US Federal Reserve made the long-awaited decision to raise interest rates to combat surging inflation. As per the market’s expectations, the Fed raised rates by 25 basis points. The 0.25% rate hike was voted on almost unanimously by policymakers, except St Louis Fed president James Bullard, who voted in favour ofContinue Reading
Oil Prices Cool as UAE Pledges to Open the Taps
Written on March 10, 2022 at 7:04 am, by lishitong
After a month of rallying in response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, oil prices have finally cooled at the combined news of Ukraine withdrawing its NATO application; and the UAE saying that it will increase oil production while encouraging its allies in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to do the same. The formerContinue Reading
Chinese tech companies bullish on the metaverse
Written on March 7, 2022 at 8:32 am, by lishitong
Despite the regulatory risks, Chinese tech companies are doubling down on their bets on the metaverse, ranking in the top among companies filing for NFT and metaverse-related trademarks and patents. In 2021 and 2020, Tencent filed a total of 4085 patents while Baidu filed 3094, taking second and third places respectively behind Samsung. In China,Continue Reading
Markets Build Risk Appetite as ADP Nonfarm Exceeds Expectations
Written on March 3, 2022 at 6:59 am, by lishitong
On Wednesday, 15:15 (GMT+2), data for the February US ADP Nonfarm Employment Change was released. At 475,000, the number beat out the market estimate of 378K, although it is still lower than the previous month’s 509,000. Broken down, February’s numbers indicate a significant employment drop of 96,000 in small businesses, although overall numbers are buoyedContinue Reading
