Oil prices eased as markets assumed the re-floating of the Ever Given would allow tankers to use the waterway again. There were over 300 vessels waiting to pass through the shipping route which accounts for 12% of global trade.
Oil prices eased as markets assumed the re-floating of the Ever Given would allow tankers to use the waterway again. There were over 300 vessels waiting to pass through the shipping route which accounts for 12% of global trade.
Brent crude futures rose 22 cents to $61.01 a barrel, after tumbling 5.9% and hitting a low of $60.50 on Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures added 17 cents to $57.93, having lost 6.2% the previous day.
Oil futures extended declines, weighed down by rising US crude inventories and by expectations of weaker demand in Europe, where the coronavirus vaccine roll out is faltering.
Non-yielding gold was still nursing losses after hitting an eight-month low on Friday en route to its worst month since November 2016. It was last at $1,750 an ounce, just above a trough around $1,716.
Powell’s reassurance gave a fresh impetus to reflation trades and boosted risk asset prices while also driving U.S. bond yields back up to one-year highs.
Asian shares rested at record highs on Thursday as investors digested recent meaty gains, though the promise of endless free money to sustain buying was reaffirmed by benign US inflation data and a very dovish outlook from the Federal Reserve.
In commodity markets, gold was sidelined at $1,838 an ounce as investors drove platinum to a six-year peak on bets of more demand from the automobile sector.
Among individual stocks, State Bank of India was set to gain for a sixth straight session following well-received quarterly results. The stock has jumped 46% so far in the last eight sessions.
Japan's Nikkei added 0.8%, after shedding almost 2% on Friday, while Chinese blue chips gained 0.5% as the country's central bank injected more cash into money markets.
Biden's pick for Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, is expected to rule out seeking a weaker dollar when testifying on Capital Hill on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The sudden lift in bond yields undermined gold, which pays no interest, and the metal fell back 1.1% to $1,828 an ounce from its recent peak of $1,959.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.6% and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.9% as markets seemed to shake off a late fade that pulled Wall Street indexes back from fresh record peaks when chaotic protests in Washington unnerved traders.